Alexandre Rocha*
[email protected]

S�o Paulo � Showing little-known images of Sudan. This was the hobby of Christian Trombetta, a Swiss national based in Brazil, during the period he lived in the country working on the assembly, administration and logistics of United Nations (UN) camps, organisations for humanitarian aid and peace corps. "My idea was to show another side of the country, a true one, where, despite the war, there are smiles and hope in the eyes of people," he said yesterday (25) to ANBA.

Trombetta pictured children playing, women in colourful clothes, men in traditional attire, scenes of the daily life of the local population. "No matter what the situation is, there is hope, pride and a certain beauty," he said. "We see poverty on television and newspapers, but nobody shows the good side of the country," he added.

In this respect, he made a comparison with Brazil. "If all you show abroad is movie 'Tropa de Elite', everybody is going to think that the whole of Brazil is like that," said Trombetta, referring to the recently released movie that shows violent actions of the Rio de Janeiro Police Special Operations Corps (Bope) against drug dealers.

Before travelling to the African country, Trombetta worked in advertising, marketing, organisation and logistics of events. He has always operated in the area, although he graduated in law. He came to Brazil in 1991, when he married a Brazilian.

During an event in Switzerland, Trombetta was invited by Afex Group, an organisations from the United States that is headquartered in Kenya, to work in the management of camps in southern Sudan. Afex offers support and logistics services to organisations and companies in distant places.

Trombetta was in the region from 2005 to December last year, working in camps in the cities of Juba, Rumbek and surroundings. That was when the idea of starting photographing arose. "I like art, painting, but where I was there were no canvases, nor was there any space. So I started photographing, during work itself. When I went to a village, I always took my camera," he said. "Reality there was like a movie and I wanted to record the images of that movie."

Simple life

After decades of civil war, a peace treaty was signed between the government of Sudan and the rebels from the South, in December 2004. Although the agreement is considered fragile, it has resulted in relative stability in the region. According to Trombetta, the country economy has gradually got back in motion. "The population has great faith in economic growth, especially in Juba," he said.

In the city there are UN and NGO bases, which help boost local trade, as well as generating jobs. According to Trombetta, Chinese companies are working on the reconstruction of highways, and other companies, especially from the United Arab Emirates, are operating in the import of consumer goods and food.

Apart from that, aid institutions are also training the population in the rational use of water and in agriculture. "In Juba, they plant vegetables; potatoes and tomatoes," said the amateur photographer. Part of the inhabitants operate in trade, others in small services, like bicycle repairs, or in fishery, during the rainy season, but many still survive due to the aid of organisations like the UN World Food Program. "It is a very simple way of life. They live in huts or refugee camps."

However, the main activity, according to Trombetta, is cattle raising. Having cattle is considered a status symbol, and families that have many heads are considered rich. The animals are only slaughtered on special occasions, like weddings and funerals. In the everyday diet, goat meat and milk are more common.

Trombetta said that he was always treated with great appreciation by the local population, as he always treated them with respect. According to him, the Dinkas, a local ethnic group, are very proud and like those who speak with their head up. "It is a tribal tradition," he said.

Contrast

To show his son, now aged 13, and friends the reality of his work, Trombetta started posting his pictures on a blog and they started spreading around the Internet. "People from all around the world started getting in contact with me," he said.

In January this year, he moved to Darfur, a region of Sudan that is still in conflict, to work at an African Union peace corps camp, this time hired by the PAE Government Services, which belongs to the American Lockheed Martin company. There the situation is very different. Mobility was little and outings from the camp were only possible with the assistance of an armed escort. However, Trombetta continued photographing.

"It was a great contrast. Before that I worked in events with famous brands, like Louis Vuitton and Hugo Boss, the top of European luxury, and then I went to live among people escaping from a war," he said. To him, however, it was an opportunity to visit a region that few people know. There, apart from picturing, he helped youths to learn computer studies. "There is great search for education," he said.

Trombetta returned to Brasil in August, to spend some time with his son. His stay in Sudan was made up of four months working solidly followed by three weeks holiday. "I saw what I had to see," he said. Now he wants to show what he saw to others, and intends to set up an exhibition of his pictures. For this, he is seeking a site and sponsorship.

Contact

Christian Trombetta
Tel: (+55 11) 3881-9377
E-mail: [email protected]
Site with the pictures: www.picturesofsouthsudan.blog.kataweb.it

*Translated by Mark Ament