Abak

Abak was just a baby when her parents were killed during a raid by a militia group in Sudan’s decades-old civil war.

When Abak fell from her slain parents’ arms, she was somehow hidden in the rubble and commotion of the raid–and the militia never found her. Abak’s aunt received word about the massacre and immediately ran to the village with a feeling of deep dread. She had heard that everyone in the village was either abducted or murdered. Her aunt describes the moment she saw Abak as bittersweet: “I lost my sister, but I was left with a beautiful gift–my niece was still alive.”

Forever the optimist, Abak’s aunt said that it was a blessing that Abak was not old enough to remember the raid in which her parents were killed. That at least Abak had members of her extended family that would care for her. That she was not abducted and made a slave, a fate that other children in Abak’s village suffered. That Abak had an aunt who treated her as a daughter, and kept her safe.

But yet another raid erased all of this optimism. This time, Abak was one of the children who was abducted by the militia. She was the one who was snatched up and carried away by men she had never seen before. She was the one screaming for help, but could hear no reply, only yelling and weeping.

Abak was taken into the North of Sudan and held as a slave for 10 years. She was forced to look after the slaveholder’s children, clean the house and serve everyone in the family. She was never paid and was never allowed to go outside on her own. She had no idea what happened to her aunt and her friends in the village, and feared they were dead. Still, she dreamed of her aunt finding her in the North and taking her back home. When Abak did not do something to her slaveholder’s liking, he would threaten to sell Abak to someone in another country. She took these threats very seriously and always tried to please the slaveholder, reasoning that her aunt would have a difficult time finding her if she were taken to another country.

She is now freed from slavery, and has even been reunited with her beloved aunt. She could not express her relief and elation at being free from her slaveholder, but even while free she has not entirely escaped the sense of fear and confusion. She still faces many challenges. After 10 years away from her community, she feels like a stranger in her own home. She has forgotten much of her native Dinka language, since the slaveholder forced her to speak Arabic, and her home village’s customs and religious beliefs feel foreign to her.

Abak said, “I am so happy to see my aunt again, and to be free, but now I do not know if I will ever feel at home again, no matter where I am.” She says that her aunt encourages her to talk about the abuses she suffered as a slave, but that the words do not come. She has trouble sleeping at night.

Thousands of children like Abak are still suffering in slavery in Sudan, or are now struggling to rebuild their lives. Free the Slaves is working to support rehabilitation and reintegration programs that will help former slaves like Abak rebuild their lives.