The girls giggled – smiling broadly at the comment one had just made to the others. Realizing he may be the butt of the joke, Richard asked his Nuba friend to translate. “She said…whatever you do, don’t look into his eyes” he laughed. Richard made faces at the girls, who laughed in recognition that their joke had been explained.
But where are they now? The young hopefuls we worked so hard to help. The people who worked harder still to create their school, to bring hope to their people.
Many are dead. Many are raped. Many are injured, in a place where there is not enough healthcare. Many are hungry, in a place where the fields have been left unplanted. But still they try to work in the fields between the bombings, the fear of starvation willing them on. They risk life and limb going from cave to cave in the mountains helping families, taking what food they can find. Even training each other in how to document the genocide as it happens. Always looking to the future. Come what may.
The international community must step in. We helped broker the deal that left South Kordofan in the North. We helped broker the deal that seemingly left no provision for the default of a man already indicted for genocide.
They want to wipe out the Nuba people. Christians, Muslims and animists who live together in one of the most admirable examples of peace and reconciliation on the planet. These amazing, bright, strong, brave people have faced such odds before. And as before, the Sudanese government is trying to hide its ethnic cleansing from the rest of the world.
This time, Mr al-Bashir, the World is watching and no matter what you do you will never be able to silence the voices of the Nuba people. Look into their eyes. May they haunt your dreams.
