Aja Ajagbe

The origins of the Aja are connected to the migrations and shifts in settlement among peoples that shaped the region between Bahr el Ghazal and the Ubangi River basin for centuries, now divided between South Sudan and the Central African Republic. Settling along the Sopo River, the Aja came into close contact with the Kresh peoples, adopting some of their language and social organization while maintaining their own speech with different roots.

This combination of closeness and difference explains why, to this day, the Aja are recognized as part of the larger Fertit family while retaining an identity distinct from that of their neighbors.

In everyday life, the Aja support their families through subsistence farming, cultivating the land around their villages along the Sopo River and supplementing their harvests with fishing and gathering. Life revolves around the village and extended family, and access to schools and healthcare is scarce in this remote part of Western Bahr el Ghazal.

Surrounded by larger and more numerous Kresh peoples, the Aja maintain close trading and neighborly relationships while preserving their own language as a marker of identity within this shared life. They are a people enduring in small numbers, preserving who they are among neighbors with whom they share both territory and customs.

Like most Fertit and Kresh peoples of Western Bahr el Ghazal, the Aja today largely follow Islam, adopted through historical contact with Muslim traders and neighbors in the region. At the same time, traditional African practices and beliefs connected to ancestors, spirits, and forces of nature remain present in daily life, intertwined with their Islamic identity without replacing it completely.

This combination of Islamic faith and traditional roots reinforces Islam as a marker of belonging to the group: following another faith is seen by many as distancing oneself from the Aja community itself, rather than merely a personal change of religion.

Portions of Scripture and the New Testament already exist in the Aja language, along with the Jesus Film and audio recordings, an important step for such a small and poorly documented people. Even so, the reach of these translations remains limited: geographical isolation along the Sopo River and distance from Western Bahr el Ghazal’s urban centers make it difficult for these Scriptures to reach Aja families, and bilingualism in Kresh leads many to turn to the Bible in that neighboring language rather than their own.

Islam is deeply connected to Aja identity, and leaving it is understood as breaking with one’s own family and community. Added to this are the physical isolation of a small village along the Sopo River, far from roads and towns, and the absence of any local church or Christian community: even if an Aja person wanted to learn more about Jesus, they would be unlikely to find a Christian nearby to talk to. Being so few in number also means going unnoticed among larger, more numerous neighboring peoples.

Living in one of the most remote parts of Western Bahr el Ghazal means facing basic shortages: little access to schools, health clinics, and roads connecting the village along the Sopo River to the region’s larger centers. Subsistence farming leaves little room for unexpected difficulties such as droughts or poor harvests.

Spiritually, the need is equally practical: there is no church or Christian community among the Aja, and the few Scriptures already translated into their language have not yet truly become part of families’ daily lives. Such a small people group needs, above all, to be seen, known, and reached with the same attention given to larger peoples.