Africa thread

Does anyone know what the story is with that newest of countries South Sudan ?

I heard somewhere that it was a creation of the West for some kind of political motive, just like Kosovo. Maybe to weaken some neighbouring country.

Is that true or did it form out of a purely African conflict or decision?

I'm guessing that it's just sand and some palm trees and camels wondering around given where it is on the map. The jungles start further south.

The only other thing I heard - very bad - was from some do-gooder french engineer I met when I was traveling who did some work there to help install civil infrastructure. The story he related was about skeletons chained to a tree somewhere when they were prospecting to dig a well.
 
Does anyone know what the story is with that newest of countries South Sudan ?

I heard somewhere that it was a creation of the West for some kind of political motive, just like Kosovo. Maybe to weaken some neighbouring country.

Is that true or did it form out of a purely African conflict or decision?

I'm guessing that it's just sand and some palm trees and camels wondering around given where it is on the map. The jungles start further south.

The only other thing I heard - very bad - was from some do-gooder french engineer I met when I was traveling who did some work there to help install civil infrastructure. The story he related was about skeletons chained to a tree somewhere when they were prospecting to dig a well.

Followed a guys YouTube channel who cycled nearly continuously from France to South Africa. He skipped over South Sudan…
 
Does anyone know what the story is with that newest of countries South Sudan ?

I heard somewhere that it was a creation of the West for some kind of political motive, just like Kosovo. Maybe to weaken some neighbouring country.

Is that true or did it form out of a purely African conflict or decision?

I'm guessing that it's just sand and some palm trees and camels wondering around given where it is on the map. The jungles start further south.

The only other thing I heard - very bad - was from some do-gooder french engineer I met when I was traveling who did some work there to help install civil infrastructure. The story he related was about skeletons chained to a tree somewhere when they were prospecting to dig a well.


South Sudan is similar to Iraqi Kurdistan, it is a resource-rich (oil, agriculture) entity that was carved out from a state that was hostile to Israel.
 
Can anybody explain how Polish refugees ended up in Uganda?


Detached from the Anders' Army:

"At the start of 1942, the Soviet Union made an agreement with Britain and the Polish government-in-exile for the transportation of the Polish troops to Iran where they would continue training. Anders knew from personal experience in dealing with the Soviets that no Polish citizen could be left behind. He therefore took sole responsibility for the decision to evacuate civilians alongside the soldiers. The majority of evacuees crossed the Caspian Sea from the port of Krasnowodsk, while others completed the journey by rail around the inland sea. Between the first phase of evacuations in late March 1942 and the second in August 1942, approximately 41,000 troops and 74,000 civilians made the journey. Anders’ fears were confirmed after the evacuations when Soviet leader Joseph Stalin decreed all persons on Soviet soil were Soviet citizens. Although the general did his best to save his countrymen, hundreds of thousands of Poles did not make it and were condemned to forced labor or compelled to serve in the Red Army."




Stolen Childhood:

Stolen Childhood is the story of what happened to some 380,000 Polish children who, with their families, were rounded up by Stalin's orders in 1939 and deported into Asiatic Russia. Lucjan Krolikowski, a young seminarian also deported there, shared and witnessed the suffering of his fellow Poles.

Freed by an "amnesty," he joined the Polish Army, and when it moved to the Middle East, Lucjan resumed his theology studies, pronounced his vows, and became a chaplain to a Polish military hospital in Egypt. Reassigned to refugee camps in East Africa, Fr. Lucjan and the wandering Polish children met again in 1947 - a meeting that began a long and loving relationship.


In 1949 when the Warsaw Communists claimed guardianship of the Polish orphans in Africa and demanded their repatriation, Fr. Lucjan was forced into a world of international intrigue. Called by the Communists "a kidnapper on an international scale," to his orphans, he was the good shepherd who led them to Canada, where he helped his charges overcome the theft of their childhood and become secure adults in a new world. Stolen Childhood is the book of memories he wrote for them, and a cautionary history for people of good will.
 
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