Published last year, this is a personal account of the sufferings being undergone in Sudan in Africa during their civil war. Two different groups have long uneasily shared this land - nomadic Arabs, a minority with power, and the black tribes. Traditionally sparring for land in times of drought, periodic uprisings from the black community against the Muslim government in 2004 brought violent reprisal by Arab militants against black villages. This reprisal was sponsored by the government and fueled by racial hatred. Rape and brutal killings abounded, and Halima relates her experience of this genocide. The first half of the book tells about her childhood in the village and illuminates their traditions. Some are good, as her grandmother’s knowledge of healing herbs, and some are bad, such as the cutting and sewing of the girls’ genitals when they are eight years old. Halima’s father is a prosperous citizen and sends her to boarding school in the nearest town, where she begins to learn of the hostility between the Arabs and the blacks. As she conquers one obstacle after another in her education, political events unfold so that the horrors take place in an atmosphere already fearful and apprehensive. Her father wants to run to Chad, but her mom and grandmother want to stay, not leave their homeland. But the father knew better. Halima and her co-writer show us again how knowing what could happen does not reduce our helplessness in the face of civil disaster.
No comments:
Post a Comment