I spent the morning visiting the authorities – the Commissioner, military and military intelligence – to introduce myself and explain my mission to photograph MAG’s work. The people I met were very pleasant and spoke very well of MAG. They were very grateful for the help the community is receiving and realise the importance of MAG’s activities.
In the afternoon I went to visit some Toposa villages with Community Liaison (CL) Manager Åsa Massleberg and one of her staff, Elisabeth Sekina. I have always been fascinated by tribal cultures in Sudan. Many people seem untouched by modern civilisation.
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| The Toposa people have a great sense of humour |
The Toposa raise cattle and goats and are semi-nomadic. During the war most fled to the city of Juba and across the border into Kenya. Now they have come back to their homelands and have started afresh.
There are dangers for the Toposa from landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) and the CL team has come to point out what dangers they may be faced with and how to avoid the risks.
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| The Toposa village, with its intrically-weaved constructions |
The Toposa people were very friendly and extremely curious about us. They have a great sense of humour. The villages were made up of circular huts, with circular stores for grains and animal feed.
There was also a circular pen for the cows and the goats. All the buildings were beautifully textured and patterned by the way the materials had been weaved together.
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| Villagers were extremely curious about MAG's work |
The team discussed the dangers with the people and showed posters of mines and UXO, dangerous behaviour and safe behaviour. They also talked about international and local methods of marking dangerous areas: the scull and crossbones, a tied clump of grass, crossed sticks or a pile of stones.
There was lots of laughing and waving as we left. All 250 people wanted a ride in the Land Rover.
More from Sean Sutton's Sudan diary:
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