USD President's Report 2000

africa E ichar Abucaja is terrified. A successful lawyer in Sudan, Africa, Abutaja gave up her practice, her chances of getting an advanced law degree in her own country and, most likely, any opportu- nity to ever return home, to start over in the United States. Her Sudanese law degree won't earn her admission to the bar in America, her English is a little shaky and

Marrakesch, Morocco

she's still learn ing the basics of li fe in Amer- ica, such as d riving a car. If that's not scary enough, she's come to USD to study comparative law, taking on thousands of dollars in loans to further her legal education. She doesn't know if she'll be able to get a job. She rarely has contact with fa mily members in Sudan, and most of her possessions are back in Africa. But she wasn't scared enough to sacrifice her principles. Aburaja felt compelled to leave Sudan after getting into a wrangle with the gov- ernment over her dissertation topic. T he fundamentalist Islamic government, which took power in Sudan in 1983, has in the past decade increasingly cracked down on dissenters and critics. Abu raja's proposed research - on the rights of women under Islam - made her an immediate target. Aburaja was rejected several times fo r admission to the judiciary, the Sudanese equivalent to the district atcorney's office, despite passi ng the necessary exams. She endured the growing oppressiveness of court rules, which mandated chat women appearing befo re the court cover their heads and wear traditio nal Islamic dress, and that the testimony of one man equals that of two women. But she wouldn't give up her studies. "I negotiated fo r two years to get the topic approved," says Abutaja, who earned abutaja

her first law degree in 1988 from Sudan's Khartoum University. "T hey kept refusing, and I kept insisting. I was finally expelled." Abu raja knew of USD through her sister, who several years ago came to Alcala Park to smdy law. Abutaja co ntacted Professor Terry Player, who guided her through the admissions process and helped her seek political asylum in the United States. "From the time she arrived, Eirhar has been enthusiastic and energetic about reach- ing hersel f new skills and learning how to cope wi th a much more open society," says Player. "Ac che same rime, she has not lost rouch with her driving interest in securing the rights of women throughout the Islamic world. It is her passion" Belief in her work keeps Abucaja going in th e face of rhe many obstacles she sees ahead. "There are some barriers to success for me here, like language and culture," she says. "I don't know if I can make it, but if I work hard, I think I can." There is no guarantee chat Abucaja will ever see Sudan again , but the civil war and regional conflict that has torn apart her country may someday end, thanks in part to another member of the USD community. Joyce Neu, the new director of the Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, is fresh from her work at The Carter Center, where her most recent task was co help restore diplomatic relations between Sudan and Uganda, neighboring countries chat broke off ties in 1995.

Al·Khar l um, Sudan

Monrovia, Liberia

Kampala, Uganda

UC se

Rundu, Namibia

lsandhl wana, South Africa

Professor Jim Gump is writing a book that compares 20th century ethnic mobilization and civil violence in KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) and the Pine Ridge Lakota Sioux reservation in South Dakota. The new book is a sequel to The Duse Rose Like Smoke: T he Subjugation of the Zulu and rhe Sioux, in which Gump contrasted I9th-century military subjugation ofthese indigenous societies. As the Republic ofLiberia struggles to right itself after civil war devastated the country in the I99os, the country's foreign minister, Monie R. Captan '85 '87, is working to help the country regain a place on the world stage. Captan helped transition the government after free elections were held in I997, and in I992 founded the First National Poll Newspap er in the capital city of M onrovia. Sister Anastasia Lott 79 has sp ent the past I2 years in Africa as a missionary with the Maryknoll sisters, and currently works with villagers in Namibia, teaching health education, home skills and Christian education. A lthough she had to Leave Rundu, Namibia, Last year when civil war in Angola spilled over the borde1; Lott has since returned to continue her work.

Above: Although they come from opposite ends of the African continent, Juana Purchase of South Africa and Ali El Moutea of Morocco both say USD's academic reputation was their first concern - but the location didn't hurt, either. Purchase, a business economics major, wants to go on to law school, while El Mouteau's finance and interna- tional relations studies will help him in either a business or politics career. Right: Sister Anastasia Lott '79 works with children from the St. Charles Lwanga Church in Omulunga, Namibia. Trust between the countries was at an all-rime low in I 999, when fo rmer Presi- dent Jimmy Carter received requests from each country's president to put together an agreement to normalize relations. Building on her experience in Mali , Afri ca - where she mediated among that country's presi- dent and a number of opposition groups that refused to recognize the government - Neu assembled a team to quietly begin meeting with President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and President Omar H assan Ahmad al-Bashir of Sudan. "Both countries were supporting rebel groups in the other coumry, and many peo- ple had been kidnapped or killed, so the situation was incredibly delicate," says Neu, who arranged the first meeting of negotiat- ing teams from both countries in London. "Neither leader could go back to his people and say this struggle was for nothing." After a year of on-and-off discussions, Neu facilitated a series of meetings in

A mission of peace. Nairobi, Kenya, leading to Carter's arrival and the Dec. 8, 1999, signing of an agree- mem to restore diplomatic relations between the two nations. Before leaving The Carter Center to come to USD , Neu set the course fo r implememarion of the terms, and to date dozens of prisoners of war and abducrees have been released by both countries. For her efforts, Neu recently was hon- ored with a National Peace Fo undation Peacemaker/Peacebuilder award. At the Kroc Institute, she hopes to build a cultu re of common ground and scholarship chat will encourage similar peacemaking efforts. 'The Kroc Institute is a place to begin developing relationships," she says. "Peace- making is a slow process, and rhe institute will provide the continuity that process needs." •

Above: After a struggle to find aca- demic freedom amid the increasingly oppressive government in Sudan, Eithar Abutaja decided to come to America to study, and law professor Terry Player was there to help. Right: Joyce Neu (right), former Carter Center mediator and director of USD's Joan 8. Kroc Institute for Peace and Justice, joins the presidents of three African nations at the sign- ing of a diplomatic agreement between Uganda and Sudan. At the table are (left to right) President Omar Hassan Ahmad-al-Bashir of Sudan, former President Jimmy Carter, President Daniel arap Moi of Kenya and President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda.

IO University of San Diego

Pres ident's Report 2000

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