Kuol Wek Mayol (Liberated February 2015)

Age: 50

Enslaved: 1994

Liberated: February 2015 

I was captured in Rummarial. One night there was a big fight
between the Arabs and the SPLA near Malualkon. The Arabs were not able to
capture the city, and moved north at night, towards us.

I was sleeping in my groundnut farm. That is where the Arabs
found me and my friend Mayen. Three Arabs beat me, and I could hear Mayen screaming from beating. I was separated from him, and I have not
seen him again. I think he died that night. I was forced to walk with the Arabs
and five other captured Dinka men to North Sudan. Sometimes the Arabs gave us
leftovers to eat; sometimes we went without food.

We walked for 7 days until we arrived to Magadma town in North Sudan. We were
divided up, and five of us were given to Hassan
Al Hajj. He forced me to become a Muslim. I used to work in his farm all day,
without enough food to eat. Al Hajj had 3 wives and 12 children.

For many years, I looked after the master’s goats. Later, I
was moved to looking after his cows with three young enslaved Dinka men. One
day, we lost some cows, and the master started insulting us and saying Dinka
slaves are good for nothing but beating with a stick. One of the young Dinka
slave men talked back to him. He did not like that. The master left and came
back at night with three others. They started beating the young man who had
talked back, until he collapsed. He died in the morning. Seeing this, I thought
my time to be killed was coming too. I escaped at night and I found the slave
retriever as he was gathering enslaved people to bring back South. He put us on
his truck and drove us to the border between South Sudan and Sudan. We walked
for 7 days.

I am happy to be back to South Sudan. I feel safe here, and
no one can beat me. I will look for my people. I am not sure if my parents are
still alive or not.

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