Jamam refugee camp
Maban county, Upper Nile state, South Sudan
20 August 2012
It was a big day for Muslims around the world. In Jamam camp, the people of Blue Nile state put on a cultural carnival to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan. It was their first Idd as refugees.
They were resplendent in their attire; spectacular in their expression of their cultural identity.
Conspicuous by its absence was any sign of the fear, pain, loss, the sheer struggle that brought these people from their homes and villages all over Blue Nile state, hiding in forests and caves, eating wild leaves and roots, drinking filthy water, not knowing where they were going.
They had known only that they would be safe in South Sudan from bombing and fighting and from the hunger that now plagues those who remained behind because they missed the cultivation season.
When people come out in their numbers singing, and dancing to folk music, you are reminded that there are things that even war cannot take away. In Jamam that day, each community put on a show, recreating through dress, song and dance, the place where they came from and conveying a strong sense of oneness.
Maban county, Upper Nile state, South Sudan
20 August 2012
It was a big day for Muslims around the world. In Jamam camp, the people of Blue Nile state put on a cultural carnival to mark the end of the holy month of Ramadan. It was their first Idd as refugees.
They were resplendent in their attire; spectacular in their expression of their cultural identity.
Conspicuous by its absence was any sign of the fear, pain, loss, the sheer struggle that brought these people from their homes and villages all over Blue Nile state, hiding in forests and caves, eating wild leaves and roots, drinking filthy water, not knowing where they were going.
They had known only that they would be safe in South Sudan from bombing and fighting and from the hunger that now plagues those who remained behind because they missed the cultivation season.
When people come out in their numbers singing, and dancing to folk music, you are reminded that there are things that even war cannot take away. In Jamam that day, each community put on a show, recreating through dress, song and dance, the place where they came from and conveying a strong sense of oneness.
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