PACODES’ Weekend at Canton Lutheran Church

(Previously published at http://pacodes.blogspot.com/)

On January 17th and 18th, 2009 the Canton Lutheran Church, Canton, South Dakota, invited Machien J. Luoi, the chairman of PACODES, to speak at the church on behalf of the organization. Along with Machien were Gat-kier Machar and Gonyang Ng’anoah, both of whom are members of the Panyijiar Lost Boys Community and the PACODES’ organization.

The event was orchestrated by Dr. Margaret Devick, a member of both the church and the PACODES’ organization. Dr. Devick spoke to the senior pastor, Pastor Tony Haglund about PACODES and the work that PACODES is doing or will be doing in Panyijiar County, Southern Sudan. The pastor was impressed and moved spiritually and hence provoked the event.

The goal of the two-day event was to create awareness and raise funds for the PACODES organization and at the same time for the lost boys to tell their story of faith, hope and perseverance to the Lutheran community.

The pastor, along with other members of the church were so amazed by the story of the lost boys and the fact that they have decided to give back to their rural community in Southern Sudan after horrible traumatic situations imposed on them by the civil war at a very young age.

The church decided, through their “mission of the month” initiative, to choose PACODES for the month of January, 2009 as its “mission of the month” project. So, all the gifts and donations offered to the “mission of the month” will be given to the PACODES organization this month.

The event ended well and it challenged both the lost boys and the Lutheran community on matters related to faith, community (oneness in Christ and spirit) and victory-won on the part of the lost boys and the fact that it’s our task as the faithful to shape the face of this earth by spreading the word of love, hope and unity and hence bringing more individual and communal understanding of ourselves and our surroundings and at the same time prompting us to help in the development process of the whole world.

Finally, the PACODES organization and the Panyijiar lost boys community express a word of “Thank you” to Pastor Tony Haglund and his family, Devick family and the whole Lutheran congregation for their support and making our voices heard, not just in the Canton Lutheran community, but also around the world.

Written by:
Gat-kier Machar
Secretary,
PACODES

Paramount Chief of Unity Dies Aged 92

(Previously published at http://pacodes.blogspot.com/)

1.21.2009

8 January - (Nairobi) - One of the paramount chiefs in Unity state, Ruey Kuong, has passed away.

The 92 year-old Ruey Kuong died on 31st of December in his home in Ganyliel in Panyijiar County.

Ruey is survived by 75 children and 35 wives. He went to school in Ethiopia up to class six and became chief in 1944 during the British colonial period.

Ruey predicted that he would die by the end of the year and that he would take all bad spells with him and leave blessings to the living.

He left his seat to his son, Mayul Ruey Kuong.

Ruey loved peace and was very generous. He was famous for calling people - even people he did not know, “Ruey’s children”.

He is well remembered for brokering a successful peace agreement, popularly known as the Unlit peace agreement, between neighboring, Unity, Lakes state and Bahr el Ghazal State in 2005.

During the war, he facilitated SPLA movements by providing them with food when they came to his areas.

His funeral will take place in February and will be attended by government officials from Unity and other neighboring states.

Source: Sudan Radio Service (http://www.sudanradio.org/viewArticle.php?id=1844)

Too few Cells For Growing Prison Population in Unity State

(Previously published at http://pacodes.blogspot.com/)

8 January - (Nairobi) - The head of prisons in Payinjiar County, John Luk Jok is appealing to Unity state government to renovate and build more prison cells to accommodate the rising number of criminals in the state.

Speaking to our correspondent, James Mabor in Ganyliel Payam on Tuesday, Lieutenant Jok said that there is only one cell in which more than 500 criminals are locked up. He said more prison cells would reduce congestion as the number of criminals increases daily.

Jok blames the state government for deploying too few security officers who are often overwhelmed and find it hard to maintain law and order in the area.

He appealed to the state government to tighten security by increasing the numbers of police to help reduce the crime rate.

Source: Sudan Radio Service (http://www.sudanradio.org/viewArticle.php?id=1845)

Disarmament Exercise A Success in Panyinjiar County

(Previously published at http://pacodes.blogspot.com/)

6 January - (Bentiu) - At least 85 guns were collected from civilians following a peaceful disarmament exercise in Panyinjiar county, Unity state, on Monday.

Our correspondent in Bentiu, James Mabor, reported that there have been increased cases of insecurity in the county.

The arms were collected from 6 of the 9 payams of Panyinjiar county and the operation is expected to be carried out soon in the remaining 3 payams.
The disarmament operation is being carried out by chiefs with support from SPLA soldiers.

According to the head of the SPLA disarmament team, Kachlech Kulang, the exercise was successful but faced resistance from some civilians who claimed that confiscating all their guns would make the county vulnerable to cattle raiders.

Kulang promised to deploy a police force which would protect civilians from any attackers

Source:Sudan Radio Service (http://www.sudanradio.org/viewArticle.php?id=1833)

Panyijiar Annual Community Meeting Outcome – Jacksonville, Florida

(Previously published at http://pacodes.blogspot.com/)

Panyijiar community members in the United State met on Saturday, December 27th, 2008. The meeting this year was hosted by the members in Jacksonville, Florida. The city of Jacksonville has five members who are from the Panyijiar community. The community members who came from various states decided to converge in Omaha, NE so they could drive together as a team since the journey to Jacksonville was going to be quite a long one. The journey began on Christmas day and by Friday morning, December 26, the journey ended at the doorsteps of the members in Jacksonville. We were warmly received and were so glad we made it just a day before the meeting.

In comparison with prior annual meetings, the Jacksonville meeting was quite an exceptional one. Upon our arrival, we took a nap for few hours and were taken to the Jacksonville Beach after a warm satisfying meal prepared by a friend known to the members in Jacksonville. On the beach we saw the beautiful Atlantic Ocean with all its waves coming as far outward to the beach line. We then took a tour of the city and ended the tour at Jacksonville landing where we saw a giant Christmas tree and had a mini-view of the ocean. We stayed there for a while and then decided it was time to go home and rest so we could get ready for our meeting the next morning.

The next morning, we headed to a Lutheran church where we held our meeting. The meeting was meant for the board of directors to report to the community members their annual community progress and to discuss issues that required attention.

Two Thousand and eight has proven to be a very productive and a blessed year for the Panyijiar Community as well as the Panyijiar Community Development Services (PACODES), the mother organization. The organization has created more awareness and made more leads this year than any other year. Various fund-raising and friend-raising events were made this year, which generated more awareness for the organization and at the same time generated more revenue than we’d planned. This year alone, five (5) major events took place. In May alone, there were two (2) events that were conducted. They included a fundraiser event (Book Bash) in Fargo, ND at Ramada Inn Hotel and a WalkSudan Rally in Peoria, Illinois. Another WalkSudan Rally event was done in Chicago, Illinois in June and another one in October in Fargo, ND. The WalkSudan events were done in cooperation with Endless Eye Production, a not-for-profit organization that only specializes in documentary film production. Then in December a brilliant online fundraiser was conducted and was called “Library MoneyBomb”. This event, which was done within a matter of hours, generated close to almost $ 6,000.00 alone. So, the overall revenue raised in 2008 alone by PACODES is about $ 65,000.00.

The fact that we’ve raised this amount boosted the morale of the community members during the Jacksonville meeting. They only hope that we can raise this much again in the upcoming year, 2009! In order to raise the above amount or go beyond that target, the community agreed to create more individualized awareness in their respective states within the United States and do more fundraising events as they could in their respective cities.

The greatest accomplishment this year isn’t the money the organization has raised but the friendship and cooperative efforts we’ve establish with various individuals and organizations. We only hope that the relationships we’ve built will be long lasting.
The community members recognized and appreciated the entire PACODES’ board of directors for a job well done!

Last but not the least; the community has agreed that the next meeting will be held in Kansas City, MO on December 26, 2009.

Finally, the sons of Panyijiar wishes all a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Written by;
Gat-kier Machar,
Secretary
January 5, 2009

Food Shortages in Panyijiar County after Flooding

(Previously published at http://pacodes.blogspot.com/)

5 January - (Nairobi) - Leaders from Panyijiar County are calling for the provision of emergency food supplies following floods which destroyed crops earlier this year. Thousands of people had to leave their homes and the vast majority do not have enough to eat.

Members of different political parties met for a conference in Panyijiar last week to address the issue of food security in the county.

Speaking to Sudan Radio Service on Monday, the coordinator of the conference, Peter Gai Joak, said they have decided to build a 78 kilometer dyke along the river to prevent flooding from the Nile during the rainy season.

[Peter Gai Joak]: “Food security is still a concern. People said there is a need for the construction of dykes because that can help in their agricultural activities. In fact the whole area is flooded. Most of the people could not attend the conference because of the floods.”

Gai said they are writing a proposal to submit to donors, including the state government, to fund the dyke project.

source: Sudan Radio Service (http://www.sudanradio.org/viewArticle.php?id=1827)