the Wounds of War: A Journey to Safety

The Sudan never had a real peace. The Sudanese had been battling the trans-Saharan and red sea slave trade for decades. Those slave traders were targeting the Nilotic, my people, and the Azande, who are of Bantu origins. After the slave trades came the Belgians under King Leopold II who exerted power by trying to expand from the Congo free state to the Equatoria region. The aim was to counter the Mahdist state.The Equatoria region where I hailed from was originally not part of the Sudan, but under the LADU Enclave. The Sudanese (Mahdist State), also known as the Arab rebels, and the Belgian troops clashed in 1894, which led to the withdrawal of the Belgian troops from the LADO Enclave (known as the Equatoria region today). This withdrawal happened after the Anglo-Belgian treaty of 1906-1909.My people were caught in the midst of all these conflicts. Moving forward, the Anyanya 1 war of 1955 to 1972 was led by Joseph Lago, who felt that the southern Sudanese must fight to seek autonomy from the rest of the Sudan, who identified themselves as Arabs. The Anyanya 1 failed because of betrayals from figures like Abel Alier, who was leaking secrets to the Arabs, which led to a shady deal known as the 1972 Adis Ababa agreement.From there on southerners continued to suffer during our quest for an independent South Sudan.

Pagina's: 160, Paperback, Tellwell Talent