Dear Friends, partners and supporters,

This month I had the opportunity to travel to Juba, Southern Sudan. As the plane descended towards the airport, the first scene was the vast fleet of United Nations (UN) vehicles and planes, a reminder of the conflict the country has just come from and the uncertainty of the situation at the moment. The airport is one of the most basic I have ever seen but surprisingly very efficient. We were out of the airport within 10 minutes.

As we drove to the hotel, it became immediately clear to me that Southern Sudan and Northern Sudan are very different and to think that they are one country is almost inconceivable. No two places can be so different in terms of levels of economic development, climate, culture and religion. This has been long recognised and a Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed some years ago which will ultimately lead to a referendum in January 2011 for the people of Southern Sudan to decide whether to remain part of the North or to become a different or new country. As one walks on the streets of Juba, the excitement and expectation to become a new country are palpable and almost tangible.

We took some time to visit Konyokonyo market, one of the biggest markets in Juba. Most of the traders there are Ugandan and Congolese. In fact, Uganda is the lifeline of Juba and most parts of Southern Sudan. All the basic things come from there. A friend told me that there is no food in some parts of North Uganda because it is all sold to Southern Sudan. Most of the hotels are managed by Ethiopians. The waitresses are mostly Kenyan, Uganda and Ethiopian.

As we walked through the campus of the University of Juba, it was very clear that the University, like many in Africa was not designed to produce women and men who can take on national political and economic leadership – the two key pillars for national self-determination. We were told that all the strategic faculties are in the North.

Lastly, we visited the grave of the fallen leader, John Garang where I knelt down and said a wish. My wish was that God should give Africa more leaders like him - leaders who are selfless and are willing to lay down their lives for their countries. The shadow of John Garang looms very large. He is still seen as the great unifying factor among the diverse peoples of Southern Sudan. His mysterious death added to his already larger than life image.

As the plane lifted from Juba airport, I looked down and wondered about Southern Sudan as a country about to be born in a few months time. Its leaders know what most countries in Africa have become after independence. A good number of them are worse off than they were under colonial rule mostly because of the development models they chose. The slate of Southern Sudan is clean and unwritten. What story of development are they going to write on it? What route of development are they going to take? Are they going to follow the conventional way or will they show Africa a new and better alternative?

Dr Chiku Malunga, Organization Development Practitioner