Six years on from independence, people are surviving on water lillies

Six years on from independence, people are surviving on water lillies

UNDER scorching sun, I made several journeys this week in South Sudan aboard a canoe, an effective form of transportation in vast swathes of a country the size of France but with very few paved roads.

The canoe I travelled on was fibreglass. Traditionally canoes here are carved from old palm trees, ones that have been allowed to grow for many years. Local people spot when a tree is ready. The tree is cut down, its crown and roots chopped off, and the insides of the trunk removed to make it hollow. Then the now hollow trunk is covered in dry grass and set on fire, and from the ashes the canoe appears. They say it can take almost a week to carve a good canoe.
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