Freedom Is Not Free

Over the years, the conflict in Sudan has become the cause of thousands of child soldiers and slaves. But despite the hardships they’ve faced, some of these children have been able to overcome their afflictions and move on. Many of those children today are former slaves and soldiers who can live their lives with pride and purpose.

by Kyra Ngai

Casually adjusting the small blue pin on his lapel that reads, “Freedom is not free”, Simon Deng checks that all the lights in his house are off before locking his door. The sound of wheels on gravel fill the morning silence as he pulls his suitcase down the driveway, towards the black car parked by the curb. This trip will make his third campaign in two weeks, though it’s his first time going to Canada.

As he merges onto the highway, he can’t help but glance at his forehead when he looks into the rear view mirror. As always, there they were: a conspicuous line of scar tissue- 20 or so bumps, that stretch across his brow from ear to ear.

After escaping slavery, the first thing he did was to get the markings of South Sudan’s Shilluk tribe cut into his flesh.

“For all those years that I was a slave, the dog lived better than I did,” he recounted once during an interview. “My slave master told me that to be treated like a human being, I must do three things: convert to Islam, take an Arab name, and become their son. To give up my identity.”1

As a native of the Shilluk Kingdom in South Sudan, Deng was only nine years old when he was abducted from his home and given to a family in Northern Sudan as a gift. For years he was burdened by the cruel treatment of his slave masters, along with being forced to do chores and tasks that few children are physically capable of, such as going to and from the river carrying water. Failure promised punishment and pain, and yet, he was still liable to be beaten, threatened, or bullied by his masters regardless of the results. Any thoughts and hopes of escaping were quickly crushed. Run away and your legs will be cut off, he was told.

Though it sounds horrific, the grim truth is that his story is not uncommon. As a result of war and conflict, children around the world are impacted and are often forced to experience uncomparable pains. Countless die, and others live, only to lose their homes or loved ones- they become refugees. Those who aren’t as fortunate are susceptible to becoming either child soldiers or slaves.

Just in the past decade, more than 2 million children have already been killed in conflict situations, and over 6 million have been seriously injured or permanently disabled.2 Although predominantly in Asia and Africa, an estimated 250,000 children are forced to fight in wars around the world - some as young as 9.3 According to Maplecroft and the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, Sudan has one of the worst child soldier problems in the world with over thousands of children in their armies, and ranked fourth in the 2012 Child Labor Index.

In Sudan, what happens in most cases is that children are captured during military raids on their villages and are then taken into household slavery by their captors or put into training camps that teach them how to become soldiers. For child soldiers, if the children aren’t abducted or recruited by force, it’s usually out of desperation that they’ve joined willingly, or after they’ve been subjected to brainwashing by the government. Otherwise, it’s likely that they’ve been recruited without notice, or in other words, they’ve been lied to. Many times when children are being recruited, they are promised that they are going to attend school, which are actually military training facilities disguised as schools.4 Education is a prized opportunity in developing countries, and it’s easy for the government to take advantage of that fact to convince families to let their children go.

As for slavery, abductees are treated poorly, which includes being subject to physical abuse or harassment, and having food and/or drink withheld.5 It’s fine if their masters hit them, kick them, or torture them; technically, they can do whatever they want since those children are their property. This is what life is like for those without freedom and often enough, for whatever the cause or reason, the ending result is the same- the children either die or are forced to endure the harsh pain that comes along with living.

Servitude and labor are a merciless combination for a child, but that’s exactly the life Deng led for three and a half years. Nevertheless, he refused to give up. He believed that he still had a chance.

And he wasn’t disappointed.

Sent to the market one day, he was fortunate enough to catch sight of three men who possessed the same scars as the ones he had seen back at home, and immediately approached them. Excited and eager to prove that he was their kin, he spoke in their native tongue, and with hundreds of thoughts and emotions racing through his mind, threatening to overwhelm him, he spilled out his story, name, parent’s names, village, and tribe. His efforts paid off. As luck would have it, the men knew someone from his village and over several weeks and gatherings, Deng’s escape was gradually planned out.

Before he knew it, he was aboard a steamer heading directly for South Sudan, and in the following days found himself standing outside of his mother’s hut.

He remembers the scene vividly; sister came out screaming and his mother crying as they rushed towards the boy whom they thought was long dead. Arms circled around his body and hugged him tightly, refusing to let go, holding him as if it was a miracle that he had come back, and maybe it was.

They wept together- tears of relief, regret and happiness for the boy whose childhood had been ripped away from him, the brother who’d been missing for three and a half years, and for the son whose father had offered ten cows in exchange for information on. He was finally home.

The torture and misery had ended, but it would take another full 20 years before Deng could gather the courage to speak up against his captors. “For former slaves, speaking about their ordeal is taboo - shameful,”6 explains Deng. Even after he was freed he kept his experiences to himself, and it wasn’t until years later after he had relocated to the United States, that he was given the push he needed.

In 1993, a newspaper he had purchased in the morning posed an article on the front page covering slavery in Sudan. As he read it, he was reminded of the pain he had suffered during his childhood.

“It said in Sudan you could buy a human being for $10. I could not believe what I saw. For three nights I couldn’t sleep. It haunted me. These were my people. This was my country. This was the very situation I had walked away from. But I was living in denial.”7

The news of his homeland drove him to take matters into his own hands- to take action. Soon Deng began organizing walks across the U.S. to raise awareness about slavery in his country. Today, he is a successful spokesperson and an award winning abolitionist activist who travels around the world, sharing his message to others about slavery being a current issue; that it hasn’t ended yet, and that it still exists in the present day.

“To look back and see where I am now, I consider myself a lucky victim. So many kids like me who went through what I went through will never have this opportunity, to go all over the world and speak to free people as a free person.” he states.

What he says is true. There are countless humans who will never get to experience freedom, will never escape slavery, and even fewer who have the opportunity to travel all over to talk to others. Many assume that slavery is a past issue that was dealt with ages ago, and yet they couldn't be more wrong. On the contrary, it’s an even bigger problem than they think. As a matter of fact, right now in this day there are more slaves in the world than ever before in history.

But it’s not just slavery. For some countries like Sudan, war too, was a serious problem as well up until recent years- even now, it’s an ongoing conflict that affects millions of people and families daily. Disputes between nations can lead to devastating outcomes, and Sudan is no different. Since the first civil war which cost the country 1.5 million lives, conflict in the region has caused 2.5 million deaths and another 2 million people to be displaced.

But what else came as a result of continuous fighting? For poorer countries like Sudan, war required more than weapons; it needed lots of manpower too, people to fight them. Soon enough, not only adults, but children as well were made to participate in warfare. Employed in national armies and in paramilitary and rebel groups, even kids nowadays will suffice as soldiers. Can you imagine a child laborer, much less a child who’s engaged on the battlefield?

It’s hard to believe that there are children who only know how to shoot a rifle. It’s also tough to think about the fact that they could be used anyway the military sees fit, whether it be as front-line combatants, suicide bombers, spies, or sex slaves.8 If the enemy has laid traps or mines, those same children will be the ones sent to sweep them out. For every child that blows up, their armies will be a few feet closer to the enemy.

It’s bad enough that children are affected by war, but when they are made to fight the conflict themselves, those experiences will cause them damage that can never be healed.

Child soldiers, and child slaves. Everyday, people around the world are forced to risk their lives and to toil away for the profit of others. Those same people are rewarded with close to nothing.

But it isn’t the end. Thankfully, that isn’t the case for everyone who becomes a slave or child soldier. There are others who, like Simon Deng, have been given the chance to escape their old lives to create new, better ones for themselves. The trauma of their ordeal will forever stay with them, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t lead happy lives. It’s still possible to turn the tables, and each time someone does, it only shows that those who never lose faith have the ability to succeed. If you don’t believe it, just ask Mr. Achiek.

Abraham Kur Achiek, who spent three years fighting in a Sudanese resistance army, witnessed countless atrocities during his time as a child soldier and recalls watching too many of his comrades getting shot and killed. He knows better than anyone just how traumatic war can be, and describes the experience being emotionally scarring.

"I have suffered beyond description and it required great personal effort to come out of that and be able to talk today," confessed Achiek. "These are situations that somebody cannot recover from. They are among the worst things that can happen to human beings. But life continues and you have to struggle and see things positively. If you give up, that's the end of life."

As he said, giving up will mean the end. But now, as a successful officer for Unicef, the UN’s agency for children, he struggles to put his past behind him and help kids who remain enlisted in the SPLA (Sudan People’s Liberation Army) trade in their AK47’s for normal lives, free of war and bloodshed. The same goes for Simon Deng, who gives talks to others about human rights issues and is involved in peace and reconciliation talks with the people in South Sudan.

When people lack hope, and faith, they will never be able to escape.

When people struggle and believe, they will triumph.


1 "'How I Escaped Child Slavery in Sudan'" - Africa. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. <http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/how-i-escaped-child-slavery-in-sudan-1.1484070>.

2  "'I Was a Child Soldier in Sudan - I Suffered'" - The National. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2013. <http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/africa/i-was-a-child-soldier-in-sudan-i-suffered>.


3 "World Vision - Child Soldiers | Advocacy for Child Rights – World Vision." World Vision - Child Soldiers | Advocacy for Child Rights – World Vision. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2013. <http://www.worldvision.org/content.nsf/learn/globalissues-child-soldiers>.

4  "Human Rights in Sudan." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Mar. 2013. Web. 1 Mar. 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Sudan>.

5  "Sign-up for UPDATES." Anti-Slavery. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2013. <http://www.antislavery.org/english/slavery_today/forced_labour_in_sudan.aspx>.

6 "'How I Escaped Child Slavery in Sudan'" - Africa. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. <http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/how-i-escaped-child-slavery-in-sudan-1.1484070>.

7 "'How I Escaped Child Slavery in Sudan'" - Africa. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2013. <http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/how-i-escaped-child-slavery-in-sudan-1.1484070>.

8  "World Vision - Child Soldiers | Advocacy for Child Rights – World Vision." World Vision - Child Soldiers | Advocacy for Child Rights – World Vision. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2013. <http://www.worldvision.org/content.nsf/learn/globalissues-child-soldiers>.