Stories From Sudan

by Anthony Dane 

Sitting alone, quietly beside a beautiful, peaceful pond in Simsbury, Connecticut Francis Bok watched the sunset and the darkness overtake the night. In the back of his mind he knows that he has survived yet another day without any harm done to him, while thousands of others are still where he once lay. He slowly rifled through the memories in his past which he had endured and tried to construct together a reasonable story of probably what was the most traumatic experience of his life. Tomorrow morning he would have to make his way to an all girls school in Simsbury, where he would be one of a few guests that would share their story to young girls who might question the amount of scars on his head. For now, his main challenge was making his way back home in the dark, alone. He listened one more time to the wonderful birds chirp, but it was unfortunate that he would never be able to see these exotic creatures. Francis was blinded years ago by his savior, his master.

For almost two decades of Francis Bok’s life he and thousands of other Sudanese lived as slaves to Arabic owners, treated as if they were dogs and beaten daily. It all begins with innocent, harmless young children one unlucky day getting abducted from their villages by Northern Sudanese militias, brutally beaten but only left them alive so they could live through the journey to the north, where they would continue their suffering as slaves to Arabic families. He was one lucky slave who made it out alive and was chosen to end his horrific history in Sudan and move to the United States of America. But memories still haunt him without mercy.

Africa has endured slavery for centuries now, with many forms and purposes. Modern day slavery in Sudan started 30 to 40 years ago, during the Second Sudanese civil war. Those who were captured from the south were brought up north, and many of those captured were Christians. Being Christian had a major impact on how the Arabic people in the north treated them, because when the Southerners refused to convert to Muslim, the punishment would get even worse. According to CBS news, slaves were/are being sold at approximately $50 dollars apiece. It is almost like trading animals.

One particular kind of slavery was known as military slavery, where slaves would be turned into soldiers and obeyed the rules of a Patron. A patron could be an independent warlord or the head of a government and could use their slave troop for money purposes or his own political interest. Military slavery was well known in the Nile valley, in parts of Uganda and Sudan and was organized by Islamic authorities and other war chiefs. The military units in Sudan were formed sometime during the 1800s through large-scale military raiding in areas that are now Sudan and South Sudan. It is believed that during Sudan’s long history, at one point either Arab warlords or European invaders enslaved one third of the population.

Slavery may have began a long time ago in Africa, but it reached its highest, worst point in the 1980’s, when the northern government allowed the idea of capturing benign children, burning down their hometown and killing everybody else.Many of those southern villages were weak and defenceless,one example being Francis Bok’s.

What began as any normal day for Sudanese man Francis Bok ended in the hell of being captured into child slavery that would change the rest of his life. Bok was only seven when one fine morning, his mother sent him to the local market to sell peanuts and eggs for the family. All of a sudden Northern Sudanese men raided the village, storming in with horses and weapons, viciously slaughtering the men and capturing the women and children. Francis was taken by these men, whipped and was brought up to northern Sudan. There an Arab man would buy him, officially making Francis his own slave. From then on it would only get worse…

When the North and South of Sudan were at war, it is estimated that up to 8,000 Sudanese 1 people were caught by Arab militants, and brutally brought back to the north where people (mainly Arabs) could buy these slaves. Those who were not caught by the militants were killed or escapees. A large percentage of the slaves are from the South, in villages that were burned to ashes by Arab invaders. This was a brutal time during Sudan’s history and is sadly still going on today. Slaves are horribly treated, and if their owner did not like them, they would have the right so simply discard the slave however they wanted.

Francis Bok, merely a teenager at that time was in charge of all the cattle that belonged to this Arab man. The only major difference between the animals and Francis Bok was that, unlike Francis, the sheep and cows actually got food and water to eat, and had shelter that they could sleep in. One morning a couple of animals escaped from the barn, and the owner punished Francis so brutally, flesh was peeling, and his face was burning because of the acid poured on it.

One fortunate boy who had escaped the wrath of his Arab owner returned back to Southern Sudan and explained his story to BBC, talking approximately what 90% of slaves are treated and taken care of. “I had to look after the cattle, goats and sheep. I was only given leftovers to eat and sometimes nothing at all. One day, a cow went missing and I was beaten so badly that my right arm and leg are paralyzed.” Marko Akot Deng Akot. This story from Marko relates to so many more slaves out there, cattle farming is a major part in the Northern Sudanese people’s lives, but it was not a job (to take care of the animals and farms) for the owner, but for the slave.

The Commission for the Eradication of Abduction of Women and Children, or CEAWC, is an organization set up by the Sudanese government in 1999 after an international outcry over the enslavement of southerners by northerners. This was one of the organizations that after realizing how bad the slave trade issue got decided that they wanted to get involved, and save these slaves.

After years of enslavement and pain Francis Bok endured, CEAWC rescued him and many other slaves from the vicious Arabic owner. CEAWC transferred money and goods in return for these slaves. They were eventually brought back to Southern Sudan, either to start a new life or to find their long lost relatives.

One other Sudanese explained the hardship of slave trading, even witnessing it with his own eyes. "In my area of 5,800 households, 300 children were abducted - 50 have returned. This has really affected the region. The parents have now grown old and the children should be looking after them. You can often see the parents getting drunk in the market. They have lost hope and self-respect." Deng Pioth Yai, local chief.

One non-governmental organization, called the Anti-Slavery International (founded in 1839) sent two representatives to Sudan in the year 2000. It has a registered charity in England and has connections to the United Nations. In recent years this organization has been heavily focused on child labor, bonded labor, trafficking in persons and forced, early marriage. These four things are all related to the situations going on in Sudan, especially child labor and early marriage. Since 2000 they have been, whenever possible trying to fight the situation going on in Sudan, along with other organizations such as Save the Children and UNICEF, but it is not enough. Slavery is still going on today. Francis Bok is one example of a leadership role for the ones who have lost others, who have lost everything but them. He started a fresh new life, trying to forget the past and simply try your best to move on.

Slavery has not only affected people physically, but mentally. It has been going on for far too long and the example by Deng Pioth Yai was just in one village, the effect that slavery had on them. Imagine all the hundreds of other different peaceful villages that got captured and burned down, and all the people’s dreams turned to ash. If countries want to really go around promoting human rights for everybody, a change has to be made now, at this instant. The situation going on in Sudan is merely in one country, and look how bad the situation has become: Families torn apart, parents losing hope and giving up on life. Imagine the other 54 countries in Africa, and the total effect slavery is having upon us.

Francis Bok arrived back home almost like a war veteran, only to find out that his whole family was burned alive when his village was burned down, years ago. There were others who survived the attacks, but when questioned about Bok’s family, none wanted to tell him the truth. Francis Bok is now in the process of building a new life for himself, forgetting his history, even though he knows that deep down those memories will never stop haunting him.