mattsiller.com Blog

As most are already aware, I have departed Darfur and left Sudan permanently. I left on December 5th, 2007, 735 days after I first arrived. My feelings about leaving were mixed for a number of reasons. Two years of my life were spent supporting the peacekeeping efforts in Darfur. Most of the days went fast. Surviving it did require a good amount of patience, a strong routine, and a sense of humor.

There is a long way to go to bringing peace to the region of Darfur and into Sudan. The reasons being too many to count, I will just say the complexity of the mess here is overwhelming. For me, two years of working in the country was a plenty (at least without a long break . I’ve mentioned before that the chaos in these places can be contagious, which I’m trying hard, several months out, to put into perspective.

It is the people of Darfur and of Sudan who will ultimately resolve this conflict, not the international community. I believe it will take a new, robust leadership within Sudan to force this change. Otherwise, I suppose exhaustion will be the only other catalyst. Sure the international community will be key to reintegrating and redeveloping the region, but they cannot stop the war.

Rebel parties need to unite under a common cause. A peace agreement needs to be implemented. The UN and their peacekeepers need to be mobilized in mass to enforce the agreement. Infrastructure needs to improve (roads, schools, etc). A strong agricultural campaign needs to blossom (pun intended), and so on. Conditions need to layer so that people feel secure enough to restart a life, a livelihood, a family, and they can ease off the food programs that provide these things for them right now. An environment needs to be created for which farmers and herders can see that an AK-47 is not a necessary means to an end. All easier said than done, I realize.

Anyway, I enjoyed my time there. It was an experience. It’s the people who generally make the place, and I really enjoyed making friends from all over, as well as getting an insight into the people and culture of Sudan.

My next move (after a short stunt in France) is to study International Economic Development in a graduate program during the Fall, so I’m taking these experiences with me to further learn about the factors needed to create stable countries capable of sustainable development and sound investment.

In the meantime, check out my latest blog, An American In Montpellier. Thanks to you for reading this blog and providing such positive feedback, a motivator to me in more than one way.