The heartbeat of a town is in its markets. There strangers meet and become friends, stories are traded, conversations reveal opportunities for collaboration, and we're reminded that we depend on each other as we exchange what we have for what we want. When a town is in decline its anguish is most visible in the empty markets.
Bor Town, once a bustling and growing city on the eastern bank of the Nile, was one of the spaces hardest hit by the violence that took over our country. Now, two years later, HDC working under UNIMISS's sponsorship is building a structure for the trade and cleaning of fish in Bor. At HDC, we hope that the structure - whose beneficiaries are mostly the town's women - will continue Bor's path to recovery, and create spaces where we may continue to meet one another, and to make a future of exchange and collaboration possible again.
Our Head of Programmes, Engineer William Ngabonziza was interviewed on Gurtong and pointed out that the fish market was a quick impact project, built in response to a community need for a site at which the fish trade could be conducted. He also emphasised the sanitary aspect of the new construction, telling the reporter that the new facility would include a tiled area for washing and cleaning out the fish to be sold.