Here’s another interview from my archives with Sarah. Sarah especially touched my heart. I spent the most time with her, listening to her, talking with her and learning about her life. A favorite moment was when she took me for a walk in the forest and showed me her favorite spots to rest or to read. She cracked up as I ginger-footed my way around, sure that some lurking creature would attack my open toes, stepping on all sorts of weeds with thorns in the process. She smiled in encouragement as I repeated the names of trees and bushes that she told me in Dinka. We both cracked up when she would tell me 10 different names for 10 different shrubs and all I could think of for the English equivalent was “shrub”. She was not impressed by my shallow grasp of horticulture, but more so by my memory for Dinka words. She would point at a shrub and I would say “Pan”, or “Marlot” or “Gnok” (and usually get it right.) When she took my hand as we walked back to the compound, I knew I had found a younger sister in this strong, determined, intelligent young woman.

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My name is Sarah and I am 18 years old. I am in Form 1C, one girl of five in a class of 40 boys. I was born in a village near Aweil East. I do not know my birthday but my mother tells me I came during the rainy season (June – November).

My childhood was a bit complicated. I am the fourth born and have three brothers and one sister who is married and has her own family now. As a baby conditions here were bad, due to the war. My mother would go into the forest to find fruit to feed us with as there was nothing else to eat. When I was very small we fled to Khartoum to get away from the violence in the South. I don’t have many clear memories of our time there, though I do remember a bit of Arabic. Early on, my mother and father had some troubles and my dad was arrested for not paying the dowry for my mother. In the Dinka culture it is expected that when a man wants to marry a woman he should pay her parents many cows and maybe some bulls to earn the right to own his wife. When that exchange is made, then the woman becomes his property. My father had no dowry, so he was put in jail. His father then married my mother and she became his third wife. He treated us terribly and when in Khartoum, disowned us. I have no relationship with this father.

We returned to Southern Sudan for just a year in 2003 before I left for Kenya. I went to Kenya to live and go to school. There I stayed with several other kids like me. My aunt treated us horribly. She’d beat me and I never knew why. I received word earlier this year that my mother was not doing well so I decided to return to this area to be closer to her. When I returned and saw her for the first time my heart broke. She was living on nothing with no one supporting her. She was forced to eat the bark off the trees. I was able to buy her some tea and sorghum but I worry about her constantly. Sometimes I wish I had been born a boy. As a boy it is easier.

In April 2010 I worked for the election campaign to earn a bit of money. When I attended the rallies though I was beaten by some soldiers there because they thought I worked for Northern Sudan and was a spy. I was shocked, and to this day do not know why they did that to me.

I want to pursue my education above all else because I want to be educated so that I can help my mother and make a better life for both her and me. I also enjoy school a lot; it helps me think about careers. My dream job is to become a pilot so I can see different countries, see how they’ve developed and what the differences and similarities are. I see the difference of what education brings to you because so many people in Southern Sudan are not educated. My favorite subjects are Physics and Chemistry. After school I enjoy reading (it helps me forget the problems and thinking about my mom). I also like basketball and football (soccer).

Upon graduation I’ll probably have to look for a job straight away to support my mom, but my dream is to go to a university somewhere in a different country.

I’d like to tell the American people to please continue to help the people of Southern Sudan. Help us get jobs and create better lives. Women in particular are suffering so much. Often times their husbands are out getting drunk leaving them with the whole responsibility to feed and clothe their children. They struggle every day to survive.

Danielle will be accompanying Phil on a trip to Cambodia next week to document two outstanding organizations working towards gender equality and ending violence against woman and girls.  Stay tuned to our blog for her reports from the field!