Sabsiano Agiem Akoon (left), a Red Deer resident since 2004, is seen here with friend and fellow South Sudanese Monybany Dau, who served as an interpreter for an interview with rdnewsNOW. (rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

wisdom abound

A journey of love from South Sudan to Canada: A Black History Month story

Feb 28, 2022 | 7:00 AM

This story is part three of a special series rdnewsNOW is running throughout February in celebration and observance of Black History Month.

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“About 65,” says Sabsiano Agiem Akoon, starting our conversation with a chuckle.

Affectionately known as Uncle Sebastian to friends in Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, Akoon is speaking of his age.

In Gogrial State, South Sudan, where he’s from, many people are not born in hospital, and wind up without a birth certificate, thus they estimate.

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Akoon recently spoke about his life and learnings for rdnewsNOW’s special series on Black History Month, for which this is the third and final part. Part one is here and part two is here, in case you missed them.

No matter his age, Akoon – a son to cattle and chicken farmers — is a wise and travelled man.

He grew up in South Sudan, studying — as all children there do with emphasis — geography.

Canada, the United States and Australia were three places he would dream of one day being – away from a region he remains proud to call home, but acknowledges has long been a front for tensions.

“I knew the systems in the countries that beckoned to me had goodness, and that opportunities could happen there,” he says, communicating in Dinka and through an interpreter. “I had siblings, including seven sisters who I lost all when they were younger. Four boys were left after that, and just one ended up following me to Canada. My parents died in the 1980s, and now, aside from my two sons, I’m the only one left.”

Akoon’s two 20-something sons are in Alberta, and his daughter tragically passed away two days before he underwent double knee replacement surgery in October 2020.

(rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

“My childhood depended on my parents. It’s about the lifestyle the parents have and share with their children,” he says. “My father and mother never argued or fought. The love between them influenced us as siblings and we always loved ourselves.”

Before arriving in Canada, Akoon spent time in North Sudan – or just Sudan — where people from the South face discrimination, and where it isn’t uncommon to be forced to train and subsequently fight against people from your own side, he tells.

“This was part of the reason I left Sudan’s capital of Khartoum to go to Cairo, Egypt. I was avoiding being recruited and fighting against my brothers from the South,” he says. “I could’ve stayed and become old enough and untrainable, but then they’d be waiting for my kids to train.”

In Cairo, he had a job with Egypt’s ministry of education, and then brought his young family to Canada, arriving in Vancouver in 2004.

Prior to retiring, thanks to said knee replacement, Akoon worked several sanitation and custodial jobs.

“I’ve made such strong connections through my work. Those friends have never forgotten me. Recently, one came and took me for coffee,” he says of enjoying the gigs he’s had in Canada.

“Do not judge a book by its cover,” he says. “Read it first, and then you’ll know whether it’s good or bad, and how it should inform your opinions. Everyone can be good or bad; most of the time when a Black person does something wrong, we are all painted with the same brush. It isn’t the same for others. Let’s get to know people by who they are and what they do, not by how they look.”

Akoon had never heard of Black History Month — a North American-originating observance — until our interview.

Nelson Mandela: “He was jailed for being a bad person, but at the end of the day, he turned out to be one of the best people in the world; one of the most peaceful ever,” says Akoon.

Martin Luther King Jr.: “He was also judged as being a bad person simply because he was Black, but we’ve come to realize his dream everywhere, and in a lot of people.”

Barack Obama: “No one expected him to ever become president, but he did.”

Akoon’s negative experiences in Canada are very limited, once facing a struggle coming out of a job lay-off.

However, doctors fighting for his daughter’s life in hospital wouldn’t have been afforded to her if she’d been in hospital in Khartoum, nor would his knees have been replaced so conveniently, he adds.

“I am safe here. In my own country, I was not. Coming here, I hoped mostly for my children to have opportunities for their education,” he says. “But I don’t have much time left now. I’ve formed friendships, I go every Sunday to CrossRoads Church, and those are my favourite parts of Canada and Red Deer.”

Asked about his health aside from his knees, he quips, “God is great.”

And it comes back to that wisdom, no matter the age – a knowledge we can all learn, yet tend to overlook.

“I’ve seen Black people all over the world, including here in Red Deer, Calgary and Edmonton, and I see a love in all of them. The Black community helped me when my daughter died, and my responsibility for the burial process was limited. All of these things inspire me. The love among Black people around the world inspires me,” he says.

“Lastly, I would tell young people to have God in your life. Then, make sure you love your home, wherever it is, and it will give love back to you. You then must respect and love yourself, because until you’ve done that, you cannot love and respect others.”

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rdnewsNOW extends a profound thank you to Monybany Dau who served as an interpreter for our interview with Sabsiano Agiem Akoon – ‘Uncle Sebastian.’ We also thank Ubuntu-Mobilizing Central Alberta for offering up their office to host the interview.

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