09/26/2004

RI staff met this mother in North Darfur who is trying to care for her daughter while living in a camp for displaced people. Although her family had very few possessions, she invited RI into her tent, spread blankets out on the ground, and made sure that we were shaded from the hot sun. While she prepared sweetened tea, her sisters and daughters joined in a circle to share stories. This mother opened her heart to us and described the atrocities her family had experienced at the hands of Arab militia known as the Janjaweed. Her village was raided by a combination of Government of Sudan helicopters and bands of Janjaweed. During the raid several men from the village were killed. Her unmarried daughter was raped in front of her. The family was able to flee and over many weeks finally reached this camp. Many months later, her daughter was still ill from the effects of the rape and severely depressed. Her parents were able to scrape together the money to send her to the hospital and were doing everything they could to encourage her to rebuild her life.