S.sudan starts planning for life beyond war

BENTIU:FORTHEIRSTTIMESINCELEEING his home when civil war broke out In South SUDAN ive years AGO, RAAN Bona is daring to plan for the future.

Seated at a restaurant in Bentiu town, the29-year-oldteachersaidlifehasstarted to change “with peace.” He is opening a printing shop with the hope it will make enough money for him to leave a United Nations site where, like hundreds of thousands of others across the country, he has been sheltering for years.

Just months ago, planning ahead in South Sudan seemed impossible. Now, after warring sides signed a new peace deal in September that the government vows will hold, some are rebuilding their lives.

Saturday marks THE ifth Anniversary of the beginning of the civil war that has killed nearly 400,000 people. Armed oppositionleaderriekmacharnotedthegrim anniversaries of the past and sounded a note of hope: “This year I can announce to the people of South Sudan that peace is not just on the horizon, but it is here.”

Machar pointed to the crowd in October that celebrated the peace deal and greeted his return, said to be one of the capital’s largest gatherings since independence in 2011.

Three months into the fragile deal, others said the tide is slowly turning. “If someone had asked me six months ago ... I don’t think we would have got here,” the chief of the UN mission in South Sudan, David Shearer, told reporters in Juba on Tuesday.

On a recent visit to Bentiu town, one of many left mostly Desolate By IGHTING, The Associated Press spoke with several locals who pointed to signs of progress. Military checkpoints once used to harass civilians have been removed.