I do not remember how I was captured. I only remember living with Ibrahim Mohammed as a slave. Ibrahim has a wife called Zaynab and two children, one boy and one girl. I knew from the way I was treated that I was not from them. They called me “dirty Dinka,” “slave,” “ugly Dinka.”
I used to sleep on the ground with the goats. I cleaned the house, collected water and looked after the goats. I had to eat left over food most of the time. I was forced to be Muslim, and circumcised.
I got sick one day, but Ibrahim insisted that I must go and collect water. I came home late from the water, so Ibrahim beat me and hit my eye with a piece of wood. He continued beating me for very long time. I saw blood coming out from my eye and I could not see with it. I have been in pain for many days.
The Arab master said, “Look, you slave Dinka girl, I will kill you the same way my father killed your mother in South Sudan.” This was the first time I learned that my mother was killed by Arab master’s father. I was very upset. I went to the forest with goats and escaped to another village. I met the slave retriever, who took me to his camp and then put me on a truck to the Kiir River with other freed Dinka slaves. We walked from there to South Sudan. The slave retriever gave us food to eat.
I am very happy to be in South Sudan. No one calls me names or beats me here.
Narrative provided by Christian Solidarity International
