Word: dinka
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Garang, a Christian member of the Dinka tribe, vows that in spite of the human cost, they will continue fighting until the government of recently elected Prime Minister Sadiq el Mahdi stops trying to impose Islamic customs upon the Christians and pagans of the south. "Religion must no longer be used for political aims," Garang, 41, told TIME last week in his first interview with a major U.S. publication inside southern Sudan. "Anyone can see that Sudan is disintegrating. There is no government by the people, for the people. A new Sudan must be born...
...anarchy in southern Sudan, which the rebels have virtually severed from the rest of the country. Since 1983 the insurgents have violently resisted efforts of the Muslim-dominated government in Khartoum to impose its customs on the Christian and pagan south. Led by John Garang, a Christian from the Dinka tribe, the rebels have especially chafed against the "September laws" of former President Gaafar Nimeiri. Imposed in September 1983, the Islamic laws have been applied with unusual severity to all Sudanese, whatever their religion. In 1984 alone, hundreds of people, including foreigners, were given 80 lashes if liquor was detected...
Even in Africa's Sudan, among the Dinka tribesmen, basketball was known as a logical career for a 91-in. man. Of confused age, though thought to be 23, Bol had a traumatic introduction to the game six years ago. Goaded by a cousin to attempt a dunk, he broke several teeth on the rim. In the spirit of his 7-ft. 10-in. grandfather, a chieftain with some 80 children, though against the wishes of his 6-ft. 8-in. father, a cattleman who died lonely for his only son, Bol inevitably made his way to a local team...
...central 7,000 sq. mi. are permanently clogged with reeds and papyrus and infested with 63 species of mosquito. From May to October, the White Nile floods and temporarily extends the swamp another 4,300 sq. mi. Says Daniel Yong, a member of the area's nomadic Dinka tribe and a Jonglei Canal project official: "In the rainy season there is water everywhere, but in the dry season you can die of thirst." The Sudd proved an obstacle to 19th century explorers, but today it is more of a hindrance to economic development. It can take a year...
That prospect, however, leaves some experts uneasy. Opening up the region to commerce is sure to undermine the cattle-herding societies of the estimated 1 million Dinka and Nuer tribesmen who roam the Sudd. "But most of the traditional people want to change," contends Jonathan Jenness of the United Nations Development Program. "They don't want to be hungry, sick and uneducated and, most important, without political clout...