By Matik Kueth
In Juba, some words carry stories far bigger than their ordinary meaning. “Toronto” is one of them; it’s a word that has taken on a life far removed from the Canadian city. In South Sudan’s capital, the term commonly describes young people who roam busy streets and public places, sometimes resorting to force to steal phones, money, and other belongings from passersby.
For novelist and journalist Akol Arop Jr., also known as Aboka Jr., the term became the starting point for a deeper question: what happens when poverty, unemployment, broken family support and peer pressure steadily narrow young people’s choices? That question runs through Toronto Girlfriend, a novel centered on Amani, a young village girl whose dreams are gradually confronted by the harsh realities around her.
Much like Amma Darko’s Faceless, the novel echoes some of the social concerns explored in the novel, which examines poverty, neglect and family breakdown among vulnerable young people in Accra, Ghana. But Arop brings these questions into a distinctly South Sudanese setting, while exploring resilience, responsibility, forgiveness and the possibility of rebuilding a life. Arop speaks to King Media’s Matik Kueth about the realities that inspired him to write Toronto Girlfriend, Juba’s changing youth culture and the economic pressures shaping young people’s relationships and choices.
Kueth: What inspired you to write Toronto Girlfriend, and what personal or social reality in South Sudan made you feel this was a story that needed to be told?
Arop: Thank you so much, King Media, for giving me this opportunity to have this interview. A Toronto is common slang used in Juba to refer to a group of young people who resorted to the streets to grab belongings of passengers by force; this is because they are affected by economic crisis, poverty, as well as triggers such as lack of education, parental care, etc. The reality is that out of 3 people in a rickshaw or public bus, one of them might have been robbed of his or her phone, money, or bag. It has been a topic and security threat to the people in Juba and other towns; thus, it should be talked about.
Kueth: The book explores the lives of young people caught between poverty, peer pressure, gangs, transactional relationships, and the search for belonging. How much of this reflects what you have observed in South Sudanese society?
Arop: The book entirely captures aspects of what forced these young people to rob, triggering issues, activities they carry out in the city, and great messages that parents and the government should learn and act on to empower and change their lives. The book reflects that when young people are not given their basic needs, are left to be influenced by peers at adolescent age, are not kept in school and given jobs, and the economy keeps affecting their lives, their hopes are lost and go wandering around as ghetto survivors.
Kueth: Why did you choose the term “Toronto” as the central concept of the novel, and what does the word reveal about the changing youth culture in Juba?
Arop: Toronto is a popular word, easy to remember, makes people quickly think of those robbers, and for an international audience, the word is a famous name for a city in Canada. Someone might say the Toronto girl is from Toronto city, or for nationals here, they understand that is a girl who goes to the streets and grabs things. Surely, the girl in the book was innocent, decent, and a dreamer, but the Toronto boy was confused and transformed into a shameful and regretful lifestyle.
Kueth: Amani’s journey moves from an innocent village girl to a “Toronto girlfriend” and eventually toward rebuilding her life. What did you want readers to understand about the forces that shaped her choices?
Arop: I want them to understand that there are forces behind young girls getting spoiled, being impregnated, child marriage and losing hope in life. It is because some of them are orphaned, have no parental care, and lack basic needs, so they get attracted to the material things their friends and lovers give them.
Kueth: The novel portrays poverty as something that can transform even love and relationships into transactions. Why was it important for you to explore the connection between economic hardship and relationships among young people?
Arop: The reality is that every girl dating an older guy, especially those called Sugar daddies, does it due to economic conditions; they believe that rich men can help them with essential needs or lift them out of poverty. Poverty is also the reason why many parents today force their girls into early and forced marriage. It was important to make the line between Poverty and love clear because youth are looking for opportunities and they make risky choices to get them. So, if money or jobs come through windows of relationships, they don’t miss the chance.
Kueth: Mama Grace disowns Amani after her rape and pregnancy, but they eventually reconcile. What does their story say about how families and communities respond to young women facing sexual violence, pregnancy and stigma?
Arop: Fear of Stigma is why many youth, especially young girls, make mistakes, but instead of changing, they even choose to go out of their houses to avoid being beaten bd called bad names by parents. Some parents always mistreat girls who are impregnated by irresponsible men. For Mama Grace, she welcomed back her daughter with open hands because she understood it was poverty that affected the lifestyles and choices of her daughter. Her forgiveness is a lesson for every parent to give their children more chances to repent and rebuild their dignity.
Kueth: Your characters are surrounded by gangs, “sugar daddies,” unemployment and substance use. Do you see these as individual moral failures, or symptoms of deeper failures in families, communities and institutions?
Arop: These are moral failures, of course, because these days, parents no longer waste time advising their children because they seem not to listen. They are also symptoms of failure by families, community elders and leaders at the institutional level to provide moral, material and security support for the young ones to have a better life. Parents therefore should provide food, medication, education, security, and moral mentorship, as well as institutions playing their roles.
Kueth: The book is also critical of the state, through checkpoint abuse, unpaid soldiers, unemployment and weak institutions. Why did you choose to weave these broader political and economic realities into a story that is largely about young people and relationships?
Arop: The focus is to highlight the suffering of civil servants, especially soldiers who are given tough assignments but work for years without salaries. They are also underpaid, and as a result, some become arrogant toward the civilians they are supposed to protect and serve. Lack and low salaries, worsened by economic crisis, make soldiers set up illegal checkpoints to collect money for their survival. Poverty has encouraged the arming of civilians, and they go robbing civilians’ property and cattle.
Kueth: Several of your female characters, including Amani, Amal and Mama Grace, survive difficult circumstances through their own work rather than being rescued by men. Was this a deliberate message about women’s resilience and economic independence?
Arop: Yes, of course. None of them, despite their hardships, gave up. It is a message to the young girls and Women of South Sudan not to give up, no matter what they go through.
Kueth: Amani eventually opens a bakery and invites her former “Toronto” friends to see what she has built. Why was redemption through work and responsibility important to the ending of the story?
Arop: Most of the time, bad friends are the ones contributing to confusion and bad lifestyles. They dragged Amani to the streets, and almost everyone kept talking ill about her. Many even thought she would never change or succeed in life. Opening a bakery, though small, was a hope and testimony of her life to inspire her friends.
Kueth: If you could have South Sudanese parents, young people, and policymakers take away one message from Toronto Girlfriend, what would you want them to understand about the country’s youth and their future?
Arop: Put the future of children as a priority: Make education effective and affordable, provide basic needs, moral support, and protect them from drugs, alcohol, and bad modern culture.
Cover page of the novel ‘Toronto Girlfriend’ [Courtesy].
Arop: In most of my articles under the column Hunting For Change, my central themes are always about socioeconomic and political challenges affecting youth and sharing ideas on how to empower them through education and entrepreneurship.