Africa-Press – South-Sudan. A traditional event dubbed “HIB JERAN”, an Arabic phrase for “love your neighbor” is being used by communities in Juba to promote peace and reconciliation avenues among South Sudanese.
Angelina Stephen Ban, the Program’s coordinator said the exercise was undertaken to boost peace among the locals.
“We use “#HIB JERAN” as a platform to share messages of peace, reconciliation and healing. We want our communities to reconstruct and rebuild. This is the only way we can bring about nation building,” explained Angelina.
The event held in Mangateen residential area attracted over 10,000 locals.
The events of the day included traditional cultural renditions from different tribes; include Nuer, Dinka, Kakwa, Mundari, Bari, Shilluk to mention but a few.
“They danced with their cultural attires; they showcased their cultural activities. This really showed love and pathways towards nation building among different communities,” the advocate reflected.
According to Angela, the ‘HIB JERAN’ platform is one of avenue to sharing the messages of reconciliation and healing within the communities through nonviolence. She added that that they wanted people to interact with each other.
Nyakong James Chuol, one of the locals said it was good that the communities were able to reflect on the importance of solidarity.
“There is no way, we can live without embracing each other. Through such event, we are able to come together and forgive each other as the 64 tribes of this country,” she stated.
During the festival especially when a given community performs, most of the other cultural groups could join in the performance.
The occasion also attracted chiefs, local authorities and the host community as well as the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
Mamer Philip, another participant said if the festivals of such kinds could be organized as happened, they would lead to sustainable peace, hence peaceful coexistence among the communities.
“If all the people join hands together and have such activities like “#HIB JERAN”, all of us in South Sudan would come together. We need to put aside our differences and build harmony and social interaction,” Philip stated.
Ngun Deng, one of the local chiefs in Mangateen said if the communities could coexist as portrayed during the festival, they would build durable peace.
“If we integrate this #HIB JERAN into all the activities that we could do then we shall have a peaceful society and prosperous South Sudan,” he said.
According to the local chief, such coexistence would fight off tribalism as he encouraged the young generation to work for the betterment of the society.
Earlier, the communities had appealed to the youth to be “societal transformers” by inspiring the young generation for the country to achieve durable peace.
It is believed that cultural peace festival is one of the elements that could bring communities of South Sudan together.
The carnival was conducted by Active Citizen South Sudan (ACSS) in partnership with the Norwegian people’s Aid (NPA).
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