Fighting today is only about 30 miles north and and 40 miles west of Kurmuk. But while the fighting continues, Mr. Agar, a schoolteacher before he became a soldier, is overhauling education. When rebels took Blue Nile, only two schools functioned in the province of 600,000. Now there are 32 schools. None of the schools extends beyond 4th-grade level, and all the teachers are volunteers, according to school coordinator Ndole Ndoromo.
Local communities support the teachers, but even the most basic supplies, like pencils, go wanting.
So he crusades, right now lobbying whoever comes around for blackboards to supplement the 10 he has spread over 32 schools. Without more substantial political and military gains, the peace in Blue Nile will remain fragile. At Chali, the menace is more palpable. Residents say that the commander of government forces who oversaw the gang rapes and church destruction at Chali is reportedly commanding the troops at the front lines near the new Chali settlement-barely five miles away.