I recently returned form central Sudan, where I was shooting two projects for NRRDO (Nuba Relief, Rehabilitation and Development Organization) an NGO in the Nuba Mountain region. They work with local villages to help in the rehabilitation of the people of southern Sudan affected by the civil war. With the recent secession of the south from the north, NRRDO has been working on peace building initiatives in order to attempt to restore peace to the area, which is along the "border" and is now considered a part of the soon to be new Northern Sudan. When the civil war broke out during the late 1980s, the Nuba quickly aligned with the south and supported the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA). The poorly armed rebels were quickly defeated in the lowland areas and had to retreat to the mountains. The vast majority of ethnic Nuba were taken prisoner and relocated to camps in North Kordofan and Khartoum, where they were forcibly Islamized. Hundreds of thousands died of warfare and starvation. So it is not unreasonable for them to feel somewhat slighted to now be a part of northern Sudan.

One project that NRRDO has implemented is called "Music for Peace". Music is a huge part of the Sudanese culture and during the war there were musicians who sang to incite people to fight. "Music for Peace" is attempting to have those same musicians now sing for peace.

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