Garang Dut

My name is Garang Dut and I come from Jongeli one of the conflict prone States in South Sudan.

It is sad that many people in my state kill each other on revenge basis just because of cattle. I believe cattle are a blessing from God to us and our country. Killing people in cattle raiding is violence.

The good News is when I participated in Nonviolence Training of Trainers; I learnt new methods of nonviolent conflict transformation. These skills are rare to be found among the youth in Jongeli. The training empowered me and I started raising awareness among my peers. Some accepted it, while others still have doubts whether or not it will work to promote peaceful co-existence of different ethnic communities.

As for me, I am convinced since I attended ONAD’s training in 2011, I experienced change of attitudes and behavior from violent to nonviolent. My language of communication changed as I exercise nonviolent communication skills. Nonviolence approach has replaced my old pattern of defending, withdrawing and sometimes attacking in the face of judgment and criticism instead it gives me confidence to be polite in my relations with others, while resisting what is unjust and violent.