The rains have come to South Sudan. This is rubbish in many ways; planes can't land on dirt airstrips so people get stuck in remote locations for weeks, cars get stuck in the glutinous mud so we can't visit our projects, ex-pat garden parties get rained off. An upside to the rains is that the tribes admit defeat to the elements and put down their spears and rocket-propelled grenades until they can go out on the rampage without getting their Reeboks dirty. It has been weeks since any clinics were burnt to the ground because they were treating members of an unpopular tribe.
I think Africa breeds warrior societies. I don't know if these cause wars, or the other way around. When an African boy reaches the threshold of manhood at around age 14, he will likely undergo a ceremony of unspeakable pain in front of a hooting throng of his tribesmen. This may be circumcision, or having deep furrows cut in his forehead, or four of his bottom teeth pulled out. If he weeps, or cries out, or throws himself on the ground and adopts the foetal position (I would favour a combination of all three), he is a little sissy girl and will never be a fighter or even a man.
It is a matter of honour that when two Sudanese tribes go to war, biting is frowned upon (presumably along with fishhooking and anything below the belt). The fact that warriors have their bottom teeth extracted to enforce this rule tells its own story. Although it may also be to prevent biting the tongue when driven mad from malaria, dengue fever or one of those Celine Dion hours they have on African radio, and if I got tetanus I'd be pleased to have a convenient hole to feed through when lockjaw set in.
Another interesting side affect of the teeth removal is the unwitting pronunciation of 'p' as 'f' - in South Sudan you mustn't be surprised when a security guard announces to you "you can f&ck your car over there".
