The Bari Community in Juba over the weekend inaugurated Bari Community Centre-an edifice of the community leadership and well-wishers. It comprises three-storey buildings with each having four offices, conference hall, an open space for entertainment and social functions and even public toilets. Beside these facilities are playgrounds for children and parking space for motorists.
The Vice President of Economic Cluster James Wani Igga said the project was conceptualised to foster unity in the community. Currently, BC plans to put up a theatre and a museum within the premises once it mobilises for the necessary resources. Wani Igga said the project will serve all communities in South Sudan.
“BC centre [will serve] all the communities in Juba and it will also serve public offices, local and international organizations,” he said.
The Chairperson of the Bari Community Association Kornelio Bepo Kenyi said the park is a step forward to preserve and promote the Bari cultures and tradition as well as building peaceful co-existence with other communities.
“The BC totally rejects segregation of whatever nature amongst the people of South Sudan. That is what Bari Community Association believes in and stands for,” he said Minister of Peace Building Stephen Par Kuol urged the people to celebrate all the cultures without putting any restrictions.
“All these cultures of South Sudan are ours and must be celebrated and we must start by celebrating our own languages and value them. It is unfortunate that sometimes we undermine our own indigenous language like Bari,” Kuol said.
“I think it is a challenge to all of us who leave in Juba to learn Bari Language and let us not allow the Bari language to be killed by English and Arabic in Juba.” It is this level of co-existence that Kuol was envisaged by the late President John Garang when he called on the country to embrace diversity in unity.
“The peace which established the Revitalised Transitional Government of National Unity must be used to create an environment that must enable us to celebrate our cultures,’’ he said. Kuol persuaded other communities areas such as Wau, Bor,Malakal and Pibor to follow the same trend of cultural preservation.