Sudan

 

Introduction:

Sudan is a country in North East Africa. It borders Egypt, Eretria, Ethiopia, and South Sudan (Wikipedia). It is best known for its numerous human rights violations. Most notably, its genocide of tribes in Darfur. The human rights violations however, do not stop with genocide. They also have strict rules against woman, where authorities are allowed to whip women who are not dressed “modestly”. Modestly is loosely defined, so this is up to the discretion of police. Meaning woman might get lashes for a strand of hair falling out of their hijab (head scarf). Another form of human rights is recruiting children as child soldiers to fight in their civil wars, attacking aid workers, and holding slaves.

Discussion:

With such hard lined public outcries over basic human rights you would think that rights of homosexuals would be the last thing on the minds of the citizens. Why risk making things better for homosexuals when your sisters are beaten and entire ethnic communities are getting slaughtered, children are being abused, and those trying to help face being murdered, right? After all if you are in a place where you see this, chances are you are at least somewhat of a religious conservative.

Yet this is brought up as an issue? Why? Part of the reason is cultural. In the 1930’s the many tribes had men who would dress as women. In other tribes many men had a lack of interest in settling down, often leading to strong male companionship.

South Sudan:

Civil war resulted in South Sudan broking away from Sudan in 2012. NPR has been keeping up with this story since 2012 (Thompkins). http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=259082826&m=259082830

Food:

It was hard to find specific Sudanese food, but parts of Sudan have similar food to that of its neighbor to the East, Ethiopia. I was able to find an Ethiopian restaurant nearby, the Blue Nile. I got the vegetarian feast, where I tried the Metin Shiro Wat (dal like: yellow split peas served in spices) and Gomen (Spiced Collard Greens).

When you eat this, you eat this with a group, where the food is in the center, and it is shared. You eat the food with a pancake like flat bread called Injera. You eat the dishes with your hands, using the flat bread to keep your hands clean. http://www.bluenilemi.com/bluenile/lunch.html

 Work Cited:

“Sudan”. Wikipedia. Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudan Retrieved: April 8, 2014.

“LGBT rights in Sudan”. Wikipedia. Website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Sudan#Social_attitudes Retrieved: April 8, 2014.

Thompkins, Gwen. “Many in Southern Sudan Long for Independence” May 2010. http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=259082826&m=259082830. Retrieved: April 8, 2014.