David Vincent is a strapping 31-year-old from Southern Sudan: the kind of person who stands out, with ‘a subtle presence of substance’, moving with an air of composure and dignity.

He was nine years old when he was recruited into the Rebel Army of Southern Sudan. David was a child soldier. The gun was his Mother and Father. The bonding was drilled into him as a matter of routine.

He is quick to add that there was no compulsion at any time for children to join the army. They were fighting for an independent country, desiring to break away from the bigger entity and create their own destiny. The aggression spilt over into full scale war after years of oppression and racial discrimination. Northern Sudan was predominantly Moslem while the South was mostly Christian.

Missionaries working over the years in Southern Sudan converted many individuals and families, set up educational institutions and gave greater access to knowledge and awareness.

David was drilled emotionally to believe that the Moslem North were responsible for separating them from their families. During this intensive phase he was lucky not to have been sent to the front line, where causalities were inevitable.

The training was gruelling, the rigour standing him in good stead when he faced future challenges—especially when the war scenario became fierce and he fled Sudan. He walked for three months to Ethiopia.

Life in Ethiopia ‘was horrible’, he says. They had no medication, nothing. They witnessed many of their colleagues dying because of starvation and disease. It was much too late when help finally came from the UN, as many of the émigrés had already died.

He spent four years in Ethiopia before walking on to Kenya. The refugee camp there was much safer. They were not permitted to travel anywhere and were all confined to one place. The circle of food distribution every two weeks was just enough to sustain them.

During his sojourn in Kenya a resettlement process was instituted and he got the opportunity to migrate to Australia. The procedure took three years to complete before he was given a humanitarian visa. He was sponsored by a cousin who had earlier settled in Australia.

A new vista opened for him when he was invited to stay at Armagh, the IofC centre in Melbourne. He lived for two years in this community. It was a turning point in his life, helping him to build and strengthen his faith.

David started to think about his country’s future. In the beginning life in Australia was very difficult; everything was strange and he had to struggle to make sure that he fit in.

He was supported through official channels to transit through the process of resettlement. He also found on arrival that many Sudanese had already settled there. He won a scholarship to Melbourne University. He started to read more about his country and understand the underlying dynamics that went into its creation.

David also did a Life Matters course at Armagh and was able to develop a new vision for his country—a vision of peace and reconciliation.

There is still an on-going conflict in South Sudan. David says this can only stop if the antagonists are given the opportunity to dialogue—‘people need to discover that we are all equal and can understand each other.’

He has since completed his BA double major in Political Science and Criminology. His attitude after his academic endeavours has undergone a change and he is now passionately pursuing peace as a vital workable concept. Keeping this as an aim he has decided to do his Masters in peace and conflict resolution studies.

In Australia he met people from Northern Sudan. He apologised to them for the hatred he held against them and for harbouring intent to harm them.
He has been in search of a sustainable solution for the problems in Sudan. He discovered that he had to let go of his past and start working towards peace and reconciliation. He is ardently working at this and has never ceased sharing this conviction with his friends, and with the government in the Republic of Sudan (Southern Sudan).

After many years he returned to his home country and met his biological mother. David found that he could not converse with her and to his grief realised that he even had to use an Interpreter.

David says, ‘I hope my country can launch national reconciliation so that everyone can go through the process of healing. This has to be our priority. This is what I am fighting for now, for all the communities, to come together, and forgive one another so we can rebuild our nation.’

David Vincent told his story to Suresh Mathew at a recent Dialogue on Democracy conference held at Asia Plateau, the Initiatives of Change centre in Panchgani, India.