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Darfur Diaries: Stories of Survival
In February, 2003, the Sudanese Liberation Army in Darfur (the western region of Sudan) after years of oppression took up arms against the Sudanese government. The government and allied militias answered the rebellion with mass murder, rape and the wholesale destruction of villages and livelihood, resulting in one of the world's largest humanitarian and political crises. Up to 2 million people were displaced; 400,000 people killed. In October and November, 2004, after watching woefully inadequate media coverage on the crisis in Darfur, a team of three independent filmmakers trekked to Darfurian refugee camps in eastern Chad and crept across the border into Darfur. They met dozens of Darfurians, and spoke with them about their history, hopes and fears, and the tragedy they are living. Refugees and displaced peoples, civilians and fighters resisting the Sudanese government, teachers, students, parents, children and community leaders provide the heart of Darfur Diaries . Their stories and testimonies, woven together through the personal experience of the filmmakers, and conveyed with political and historical context, provide a much-needed account to help understand Darfur. These are people whose lives, homes, safety and rights deserve to be protected as vigilantly as those of peoples all over the world.
259 pages, Paperback
First published October 24, 2006
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February 20, 2019
Do you know what’s happening in Darfur right now? Because I definitely don’t—Darfur Diaries is about events from 2004, and in the 15 years that have elapsed, the situation has continued to change. So why read a book that is so out of date? Firstly, I bought this book somewhat less than recently—not in 2006, of course, but maybe 5 years ago. Secondly, the subject is still interesting and important enough to merit reading this book. Darfur and so many other regions in African countries is experiencing humanitarian crises that are the result of colonialism. It’s important we learn about and understand these situations so we can work towards decolonization.
This book is a behind-the-scenes account of a team of three Americans who visit Darfur to film a documentary about the situation. All three have experience related to international human rights issues, whether it’s filming, policy, etc. As they learn about the developing situation in Sudan and speak to Sudanese refugees and immigrants, they resolve to do something to make the American public more conscious of what’s happening there. The spectre of what happened in Rwanda hangs over them. The team travels into Darfur via Chad, entering the part of the region controlled by the Sudanese Liberation Army. They interview displaced people whose villages have been bombed and destroyed by the government and/or the Janjaweed militia backed by the government.
What Marlowe, Bain, and Shapiro try to convey is the deeply personal cost that these types of situations carry. They don’t interview officials. They interview people on the ground, ordinary people like you or me who were just trying to live their lives. People who have already put up with decades of civil war and instability. People who just want to get on with it.
As a teacher, I read about how in the refugee camps people with any teaching experience volunteer their days to try to teach children with inadequate resources. Here I am in Canada and complaining when my SMART board won’t work properly—I don’t just have it easy; I have it incredibly easy compared to these people. Yet they are so dedicated: time and again, from the youngest to the oldest, we hear them explain how keeping up with their children’s education is paramount.
This is emphasized when the team finally sits down with their guide, Dero. He’s a young man who walked to a nearby village as a child and stayed there for six months at a time, returning home only when he ran out of food, to sleep at a school and learn as best he could. For a time he organized and ran school in part of his village, until they were displaced again. He shares his aspirations to become a teacher, and then hopefully study further to become a doctor or some other occupation desperately needed by his people.
And he echoes what so many of the other interviewees say. That they bear no ill will to the soldiers who are committing these crimes. They don’t necessarily seek vengeance or retaliation (though a few do)—they want harmony, not strife. The filmmaking team always asks if their subjects have any message for American children back home. It’s usually the same: hello; we are the same as you; we hope you are well; we hope this does not happen to you.
“Heartbreaking” isn’t quite the right word here. It’s eye-opening in a tender, compelling way. Too often we see refugees depicted as these massive groups. Even in sympathetic portrayals, even when a few are interviewed, we reduce them to huddled masses. The individualized nature of these interviews is quite interesting. I also really enjoyed hearing, towards the end, how much the team realized they misunderstood or didn’t catch when they were present in Darfur, owing to the interpreters they used. And I have a lot of respect for how the team went into this crisis and worked hard to convey the voices of the people they interviewed, without editorializing. (Note: I haven’t watched the documentary itself. This is not a review of the documentary, just of this book.)
There are like two or three forewords/prefaces to Darfur DIaries. And while Marlowe explains why it was difficult to decide how much context to put into the documentary, I wish there had been more context in this book. I’m vaguely familiar with the colonial history, but not necessarily in that specific region of Africa, and we don’t want to make assumptions that every area of Africa has similar colonial experiences. One thing I learned is just how many different tribal nations call Darfur and nearby areas of Chad and Sudan their home—and indeed, where the name Darfur comes from.
Darfur Diaries is not mind-blowing. It offers no solutions or hope for the crisis as it unfolded in 2004. It doesn’t do much “new” for this genre of chronicling issues of genocide and displacement. Yet it serves its purpose well. It’s informative. It’s honest. It’s open and raw and sensitive without being sentimental or stereotypical.
It sounds like, from my cursory reading, that the situation in Darfur continues to be tragic and painful its inhabitants. Yet Darfur has largely fallen off our radar here in Canada and the West, as far as the news cycle goes. It’s impossible for us to care about everything all of the time, and we have a lot to care about right now, I know. I just wish that didn’t mean so many people losing their lives, livelihoods, and more.
This book is a behind-the-scenes account of a team of three Americans who visit Darfur to film a documentary about the situation. All three have experience related to international human rights issues, whether it’s filming, policy, etc. As they learn about the developing situation in Sudan and speak to Sudanese refugees and immigrants, they resolve to do something to make the American public more conscious of what’s happening there. The spectre of what happened in Rwanda hangs over them. The team travels into Darfur via Chad, entering the part of the region controlled by the Sudanese Liberation Army. They interview displaced people whose villages have been bombed and destroyed by the government and/or the Janjaweed militia backed by the government.
What Marlowe, Bain, and Shapiro try to convey is the deeply personal cost that these types of situations carry. They don’t interview officials. They interview people on the ground, ordinary people like you or me who were just trying to live their lives. People who have already put up with decades of civil war and instability. People who just want to get on with it.
As a teacher, I read about how in the refugee camps people with any teaching experience volunteer their days to try to teach children with inadequate resources. Here I am in Canada and complaining when my SMART board won’t work properly—I don’t just have it easy; I have it incredibly easy compared to these people. Yet they are so dedicated: time and again, from the youngest to the oldest, we hear them explain how keeping up with their children’s education is paramount.
This is emphasized when the team finally sits down with their guide, Dero. He’s a young man who walked to a nearby village as a child and stayed there for six months at a time, returning home only when he ran out of food, to sleep at a school and learn as best he could. For a time he organized and ran school in part of his village, until they were displaced again. He shares his aspirations to become a teacher, and then hopefully study further to become a doctor or some other occupation desperately needed by his people.
And he echoes what so many of the other interviewees say. That they bear no ill will to the soldiers who are committing these crimes. They don’t necessarily seek vengeance or retaliation (though a few do)—they want harmony, not strife. The filmmaking team always asks if their subjects have any message for American children back home. It’s usually the same: hello; we are the same as you; we hope you are well; we hope this does not happen to you.
“Heartbreaking” isn’t quite the right word here. It’s eye-opening in a tender, compelling way. Too often we see refugees depicted as these massive groups. Even in sympathetic portrayals, even when a few are interviewed, we reduce them to huddled masses. The individualized nature of these interviews is quite interesting. I also really enjoyed hearing, towards the end, how much the team realized they misunderstood or didn’t catch when they were present in Darfur, owing to the interpreters they used. And I have a lot of respect for how the team went into this crisis and worked hard to convey the voices of the people they interviewed, without editorializing. (Note: I haven’t watched the documentary itself. This is not a review of the documentary, just of this book.)
There are like two or three forewords/prefaces to Darfur DIaries. And while Marlowe explains why it was difficult to decide how much context to put into the documentary, I wish there had been more context in this book. I’m vaguely familiar with the colonial history, but not necessarily in that specific region of Africa, and we don’t want to make assumptions that every area of Africa has similar colonial experiences. One thing I learned is just how many different tribal nations call Darfur and nearby areas of Chad and Sudan their home—and indeed, where the name Darfur comes from.
Darfur Diaries is not mind-blowing. It offers no solutions or hope for the crisis as it unfolded in 2004. It doesn’t do much “new” for this genre of chronicling issues of genocide and displacement. Yet it serves its purpose well. It’s informative. It’s honest. It’s open and raw and sensitive without being sentimental or stereotypical.
It sounds like, from my cursory reading, that the situation in Darfur continues to be tragic and painful its inhabitants. Yet Darfur has largely fallen off our radar here in Canada and the West, as far as the news cycle goes. It’s impossible for us to care about everything all of the time, and we have a lot to care about right now, I know. I just wish that didn’t mean so many people losing their lives, livelihoods, and more.
December 27, 2008
"These beautiful, laughing, running kids, were certainly not miserable. They were vibrant with life. Still, knowing what I did, I wanted to find some way to protect them: from their pasts, which I could scarecely imagine when looking at their quick smiles, and from their futures, which were so precarious. I wanted to give them more than I possibly could."
"His steady voice quivered for a moment, and then continued with determination. 'It felt like I lost all the world.'"
"We cry. Our homes are filled with tears."
"'If the media will take our problem to the United Nations, they will recognize that we have rights. The United Nations is the father of all countries, not just America. I don't have anything more to say. Please give our message to the international community and let us know if human beings are supposed to live under these conditions.'"
"'If you could give a message to the kids in America your age, what would it be?'
'I will wish them peace and I will tell them we are here in Darfur. Our villages were burned, we are in a very bad situation. We ran to the Sudan Liberation Army.' He paused, trying to think of what else he could ask his peers in America. 'How are you guys doing?'"
"'I would say to them that what they are doing is wrong. We can meet together and talk about what you need and what I need, about what is right, what is wrong.'"
"'I turned over every stone, I crossed all the land. I am desperately looking, but I have no solution. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to admit this. So let me rest.'"
"When the horror is so large, there is a tendency to buy into the fallacy that since you can't do everything, then it's pointless to do anything. If we allow ourselves to fall into that trap, we become completely paralyzed. A phone call to your congressperson isn't going to halt the Sudanese government. A letter to the editor of a newspaper isn't going to ensure access to humanitarian aid for displaced people. We know this film isn't going to stop a genocide...But it all feeds into a larger effort. Perhaps it's true that we can't possibly do enough. But what we do does matter. It matters to people in Darfur and refugees from Darfur who are here. It's importat for them to know that there are people in the outside world who care about them, who are standing with them ad working on their behalf."
"His steady voice quivered for a moment, and then continued with determination. 'It felt like I lost all the world.'"
"We cry. Our homes are filled with tears."
"'If the media will take our problem to the United Nations, they will recognize that we have rights. The United Nations is the father of all countries, not just America. I don't have anything more to say. Please give our message to the international community and let us know if human beings are supposed to live under these conditions.'"
"'If you could give a message to the kids in America your age, what would it be?'
'I will wish them peace and I will tell them we are here in Darfur. Our villages were burned, we are in a very bad situation. We ran to the Sudan Liberation Army.' He paused, trying to think of what else he could ask his peers in America. 'How are you guys doing?'"
"'I would say to them that what they are doing is wrong. We can meet together and talk about what you need and what I need, about what is right, what is wrong.'"
"'I turned over every stone, I crossed all the land. I am desperately looking, but I have no solution. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to admit this. So let me rest.'"
"When the horror is so large, there is a tendency to buy into the fallacy that since you can't do everything, then it's pointless to do anything. If we allow ourselves to fall into that trap, we become completely paralyzed. A phone call to your congressperson isn't going to halt the Sudanese government. A letter to the editor of a newspaper isn't going to ensure access to humanitarian aid for displaced people. We know this film isn't going to stop a genocide...But it all feeds into a larger effort. Perhaps it's true that we can't possibly do enough. But what we do does matter. It matters to people in Darfur and refugees from Darfur who are here. It's importat for them to know that there are people in the outside world who care about them, who are standing with them ad working on their behalf."
June 10, 2015
Darfur Diaries is a poignant, raw view of three documentary-makers' journey into genocide-ravaged Darfur. Fortunately, this is not a report, but a soul-wrenching memoir. It's not pretty and it's not supposed to be, but for anyone who has seen the documentary, this memoir is a necessary companion. It delves deeper into the lives portrayed on the film and describes the horrors filmed in detail. Conversely, anyone who has read the book ought to see the film.
December 9, 2018
After reading this documentary book, there are three main connections that connect this book to A Long Walk to Water. The first connection is: This book and A Long Walk to Water both have the setting of Southern Sudan. Which means, this book and A long walk to Water happened at the same place! After finding out this book happens in the same place, it made me want to read this book more! The second connection is: This book and A Long Walk to Water happened at the same time! They both happened around the 1990s. Which means that this documentary book happened to film the same war in A Long Walk to Water! The last main connection that I made in this book was: Life is hard, you always had to hide from bombs and soldiers from the wars! There was almost zero work in southern Sudan and every day from dawn to dusk you are hiding from bombs and attacks happening. In the book A Long Walk to Water, it was the same. Salva had to flee his parents because of his war that was happening in South Sudan. I think that this is very sad! These were the three main connections that i made during me reading this book.
Now for the actual review of this book, I think that this book started off kind of exciting that these people were going to film a documentary and everybody was eager to find out how was the life in Southern Sudan. But after reading 1/4 of this book. I felt that this book started to get kind of boring because they were just filming the same thing. There was nothing happening at Southern Sudan. Everything was the same! Hide from War/Bombs! But then, this book started to get actually really exciting again because the people who went and film met a person who knows how to speak English and lives at Darfur. So, the filming people followed the person who knows how to speak English and filmed a lot of historical Sudan places. That was kind of the only excitement in this book and everything else was kind of boring. This is why I gave this book 4 stars. Of course, I still do recommend this book to people who like history especially social studies, people!
Now for the actual review of this book, I think that this book started off kind of exciting that these people were going to film a documentary and everybody was eager to find out how was the life in Southern Sudan. But after reading 1/4 of this book. I felt that this book started to get kind of boring because they were just filming the same thing. There was nothing happening at Southern Sudan. Everything was the same! Hide from War/Bombs! But then, this book started to get actually really exciting again because the people who went and film met a person who knows how to speak English and lives at Darfur. So, the filming people followed the person who knows how to speak English and filmed a lot of historical Sudan places. That was kind of the only excitement in this book and everything else was kind of boring. This is why I gave this book 4 stars. Of course, I still do recommend this book to people who like history especially social studies, people!
December 14, 2019
Heartbreaking
November 10, 2008
Reviewed for www.thcreviews.com
At it's heart, Darfur Diaries is about the journey of three young filmmakers who went on a quest in 2004 to foster more widespread awareness of the events that were unfolding in Darfur, but not receiving a great deal of media attention at the time. I was impressed with the courage that these three humanitarians exhibited in traveling to and spending weeks in a dangerous, war-torn region, but what impressed me even more were the people that they met along the way. These Darfurians showed a spirit of generosity in sharing not only their food and transportation, but most importantly their personal stories. While a few of the interviewees expressed a desire for revenge, usually for the deaths of family members, I was surprised that several did not seem to harbor ill feelings toward their oppressors, instead simply wanting to live in peace again. Another thing that really stood out to me was how much the Darfurians value education. Living in a country where we seem to take this privilege for granted, it was very enlightening and affecting to see such a passion for learning being expressed. I was also amazed by the resilience of the human spirit, how these people somehow still manage to continue living even in circumstances that most Americans or Westerners in general could hardly fathom. The authors attended a wedding that took place in the midst of all the destruction and in spite of the potential dangers. I found that story to be a stirring and poignant reminder of life still abiding in the midst of death.
The only real complaint I have it that when I saw the title of this book, I thought that it would chronicle in depth stories of survivors of the conflict in Darfur. It did cover the personal narratives of many Darfurians, and while some were long enough for me to get a pretty good feel for the person being interviewed and what they had been through, others were just too brief to satisfy me. Perhaps this is a good thing though, as the details of the atrocities these people had suffered would certainly not be for the faint of heart. As it is written though, I think that almost anyone could read it without feeling too depressed or overburdened, which may give it appeal to a wider audience.
Darfur Diaries was certainly not a deep political treatise on the area, but I did learn some things about the history of Sudan and the political climate that led to this conflict. I think that not bogging the book down with too many details on history or politics made it an easy read that would be accessible to anyone who would like to know more about Darfur and it's people, and I would readily recommend it in this capacity. The companion film which the authors finished and released in 2006 is titled Darfur Diaries: Message From Home. After reading Darfur Diaries: Stories of Survival, I am now very interested in checking it out, so that I can see and hear the people to whom I was introduced in the book.
At it's heart, Darfur Diaries is about the journey of three young filmmakers who went on a quest in 2004 to foster more widespread awareness of the events that were unfolding in Darfur, but not receiving a great deal of media attention at the time. I was impressed with the courage that these three humanitarians exhibited in traveling to and spending weeks in a dangerous, war-torn region, but what impressed me even more were the people that they met along the way. These Darfurians showed a spirit of generosity in sharing not only their food and transportation, but most importantly their personal stories. While a few of the interviewees expressed a desire for revenge, usually for the deaths of family members, I was surprised that several did not seem to harbor ill feelings toward their oppressors, instead simply wanting to live in peace again. Another thing that really stood out to me was how much the Darfurians value education. Living in a country where we seem to take this privilege for granted, it was very enlightening and affecting to see such a passion for learning being expressed. I was also amazed by the resilience of the human spirit, how these people somehow still manage to continue living even in circumstances that most Americans or Westerners in general could hardly fathom. The authors attended a wedding that took place in the midst of all the destruction and in spite of the potential dangers. I found that story to be a stirring and poignant reminder of life still abiding in the midst of death.
The only real complaint I have it that when I saw the title of this book, I thought that it would chronicle in depth stories of survivors of the conflict in Darfur. It did cover the personal narratives of many Darfurians, and while some were long enough for me to get a pretty good feel for the person being interviewed and what they had been through, others were just too brief to satisfy me. Perhaps this is a good thing though, as the details of the atrocities these people had suffered would certainly not be for the faint of heart. As it is written though, I think that almost anyone could read it without feeling too depressed or overburdened, which may give it appeal to a wider audience.
Darfur Diaries was certainly not a deep political treatise on the area, but I did learn some things about the history of Sudan and the political climate that led to this conflict. I think that not bogging the book down with too many details on history or politics made it an easy read that would be accessible to anyone who would like to know more about Darfur and it's people, and I would readily recommend it in this capacity. The companion film which the authors finished and released in 2006 is titled Darfur Diaries: Message From Home. After reading Darfur Diaries: Stories of Survival, I am now very interested in checking it out, so that I can see and hear the people to whom I was introduced in the book.
June 3, 2009
by Jen Marlowe total pages:259
The book Darfur Diaries by Jen Marlowe is a series of stories about people who have survived the genocide that is currently going on in Sudan. Innocent people are being attacked by the Janjaweed and killing thousands of people. A specific story i remember reading about is children sitting in school learning and they hear a loud noise and then the next thing they know a bomb is right in their classroom. These stories are especially sad because in Darfur there is already extreme poverty and they barely have anything and many of the citizens are malnourished and leave in homes that are not very stable and get destroyed with extreme weather conditions. Frequent stories of young girls being raped and bombs hitting people while they are in their in their homes and just living their everyday lives. Another story which i remembered was a man that was going to work and he was bringing his sons with him and a bomb hit them as they were walking. The father was hurt badly and both his sons died. Every story is true but they are all very sad and heartbreaking.
This book has made me more aware of things that are going on currently and now i want to help them because you feel more fortunate because you have much more then they do and on top of that they get bombed it is just really sad. Being aware of current events is important and there are many organizations out there that help these people and after hearing of the survivors you just want to do what ever you can to help.
The book Darfur Diaries by Jen Marlowe is a series of stories about people who have survived the genocide that is currently going on in Sudan. Innocent people are being attacked by the Janjaweed and killing thousands of people. A specific story i remember reading about is children sitting in school learning and they hear a loud noise and then the next thing they know a bomb is right in their classroom. These stories are especially sad because in Darfur there is already extreme poverty and they barely have anything and many of the citizens are malnourished and leave in homes that are not very stable and get destroyed with extreme weather conditions. Frequent stories of young girls being raped and bombs hitting people while they are in their in their homes and just living their everyday lives. Another story which i remembered was a man that was going to work and he was bringing his sons with him and a bomb hit them as they were walking. The father was hurt badly and both his sons died. Every story is true but they are all very sad and heartbreaking.
This book has made me more aware of things that are going on currently and now i want to help them because you feel more fortunate because you have much more then they do and on top of that they get bombed it is just really sad. Being aware of current events is important and there are many organizations out there that help these people and after hearing of the survivors you just want to do what ever you can to help.
March 11, 2008
i met jen, the primary author of this book, at a book signing just over a year ago. she's quirky and funny and it translates relatively well to this book. she navigates you through refugee camps and an illegal crossing of the chad/sudan border in a pick-up truck full of rebel soldiers without taking herself very seriously and while still making time for jokes. her ability to remain unbiased and honest is outstanding. her real respect for the people she encounters is evident in every detail she describes. she doesn't pity these people. she doesn't think she is there to fix them. she recognizes them as peers in a way that i've never seen in a book like this before.
i don't recommend this for anyone that hasn't already done some preliminary research on sudan and darfur. nor do i recommend it for anyone expecting a detailed political analysis of the conflict. this book is the intimate next step. you know the background, you think you understand some of the primary causes, you know the numbers. this book is about the people that were there and living it in 2003 and it will completely change how you feel about what you already know.
i don't recommend this for anyone that hasn't already done some preliminary research on sudan and darfur. nor do i recommend it for anyone expecting a detailed political analysis of the conflict. this book is the intimate next step. you know the background, you think you understand some of the primary causes, you know the numbers. this book is about the people that were there and living it in 2003 and it will completely change how you feel about what you already know.
October 20, 2008
I am finding this book very hard to read. Not that it is bad, but because I am not that great at reading non-fiction. I don't know what to rate this book...the subject matter and the need for people to understand what is going on in Darfur deserve at least four stars, but the way this is written and its ability to hold my interest is more a two star rating.
I decided to read this book, because it sounded like it would focus more on individuals' stories. This appealed to me and what I need to stay interested in a non-fiction book. Unfortunately, the focus is more on the authors, the ones who went to Darfur to film their documentary rather than on the people they were talking to. The stories are about how they got to Darfur, how they met with these people, their thoughts on what they said, etc.
I think I need to see the documentary to see the stories, listen to the voices of those affected.
I have not given up on the book quite yet. I pick it up and read a few more pages now and then. I want to read it. I want to be more informed. It is just taking me longer to do than I thought it would.
I decided to read this book, because it sounded like it would focus more on individuals' stories. This appealed to me and what I need to stay interested in a non-fiction book. Unfortunately, the focus is more on the authors, the ones who went to Darfur to film their documentary rather than on the people they were talking to. The stories are about how they got to Darfur, how they met with these people, their thoughts on what they said, etc.
I think I need to see the documentary to see the stories, listen to the voices of those affected.
I have not given up on the book quite yet. I pick it up and read a few more pages now and then. I want to read it. I want to be more informed. It is just taking me longer to do than I thought it would.
December 28, 2007
Dafur Diaries is indeed a Message From 'Home.' This well crafted book tells the stories of the Darfurian people caught up in the ongoing atrocities that define this poorly understood conflict. The author does not preach to the reader. Instead exercises a remarkable degree of restraint by allowing the book's subjects to tell their own stories. In doing so it is the Darfurians themselves who inform and educate. Because the book is so well crafted it is never boring. In fact it leaves you with a desire to know more about the people, the confict and the region. That appears to have been the authors' goal and should be the true measure for the success for this book. I highly recommend Darfur Diaries to any thoughtful individual interested in understanding the very real human side of this tragic conflict.
April 7, 2009
Another eye opening read- this one about the Darfur region of Sudan... I didn't care for the few times politics crept into the book, but it did a good job of sharing the people's stories of the atrocities that they have endured.
I find it amazing how resilient, yet fragile the human soul can be. And, as an American public school teacher, I find it very interesting how the people of this conflict want an education for their children. It has been a recurring theme in all of the books about the Sudanese & their struggles I've been reading- the strong desire for an education.
I hope I can remember to thank God for my many blessings, where I was born (even with all this country's faults), my freedom, my education, a country where we can work out disputes and live in a relatively safe place....
I find it amazing how resilient, yet fragile the human soul can be. And, as an American public school teacher, I find it very interesting how the people of this conflict want an education for their children. It has been a recurring theme in all of the books about the Sudanese & their struggles I've been reading- the strong desire for an education.
I hope I can remember to thank God for my many blessings, where I was born (even with all this country's faults), my freedom, my education, a country where we can work out disputes and live in a relatively safe place....
March 21, 2008
The writing is not the best but this book gives the reader names and personal stories to bring the severity of the war and the devestation and refugee situation to light. Also, the writers/film-makers are inspiring in their unselfishness, documenting the tragedy and sharing their experience and that of the people they encountered with the rest of the world. I'm sure there are better books on the subject out there, this is just something I came across after hearing them speak at an event...
April 17, 2011
I really wanted to like this book more than I did.
The subject matter is incredibly important, and something that everyone should read about and be more aware of. Despite the fact that I went into this book with a pre-existing interest, the book was completely unable to hold my interest. It's slow moving and quite often it doesn't focus on anything of significance. :( I was quite disappointed.
The subject matter is incredibly important, and something that everyone should read about and be more aware of. Despite the fact that I went into this book with a pre-existing interest, the book was completely unable to hold my interest. It's slow moving and quite often it doesn't focus on anything of significance. :( I was quite disappointed.
July 22, 2010
This is a moving, disturbing book about Darfur and the horrifying murders occurring there. The world once again has lifted a finger to help a people needing the lifting of all hearts, minds, and spirits. These three young people risked physical and emotional safety to document the stories of Darfurians in refugee camps in Chad and eking out an existence in the Sudan.
April 27, 2015
Such a sad book. It is so hard to believe that people can survive such fear, hurtfulness and trauma. It is also an important read to educate oneself on what has happened and to be able to help and support people who are going through these horrific experiences.
July 10, 2013
An interesting enough read, basically a 'the making of', of the associated video. The author at times comes across as surprisingly naive, specifically because she supposedly had already worked in conflict zones prior to going into Darfur.
January 23, 2016
Learned a lot but after a while most stories and names blend together into one big collective idea of what Darfur was like in November of 2004. By the end I couldn't remember specifically who was whom and the specifics of the villages they visited. Easy reading.
February 10, 2008
everyone should read this...
October 1, 2009
Refuges in Chad recount stories of state sponsored genocide in Darfur.
Very sad.
Very sad.
November 2, 2014
Powerful, important topic.......boring book.
February 16, 2019
This book just wasn't that engaging. An important topic to be sure but this one just didn't draw me in
February 20, 2008
I liked it.
April 26, 2008
great book tough read, emotional and educational
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews