In Sudan, the Pull of Peace and Oil

"You name it, this place needs it. We have teachers with third-grade educations teaching fourth graders," said Peter Jola, who returned from Canada. In his adopted country he owned a garage. Now he's in charge of all government vehicles.

"The good thing is that opportunities are here," Jola said. "We can leapfrog and go straight to the best. We can forget landlines and just build a cell phone network. . . . Then again, I don't want to be too naive."

Already there is tension between the returnees and the local war veterans, some crippled, who feel the government owes them the jobs and training rather than the carpet-bagging businessmen back from Congo, Kenya and the United States.

"There has to be a balance between those with technical skills and those who fought in the bush," said Acuil Banggol, who played professional basketball in Egypt and has come back to earn money importing beer and digging wells. "I think there has to be enough work here to absorb everyone."

Banggol and Thian have formed a business association to enable returnees to meet residents and swap job tips. Thian said he was upbeat, even though his stomach was still adjusting to the water and he missed having high-speed Internet.

After working at the Rumbek airport this summer when it was under U.N. control, he said, he has now been assured of a good job there by the local authorities.

"Still, I won't be giving up my U.S. citizenship," he said. "What we want in Sudan is to be real citizens of the world -- equals. I can't honestly say if we'll ever get that or if I'll end up staying. But I can try."

Then he put on his earphones, turned on his CD player and trudged off to take a bucket shower.