In this book, refugees and abductees recount their escapes from the wars in Darfur and South Sudan, from political and religious persecution, and from abduction by militias. In their own words, they recount life before their displacement and the reasons for their flight.

Many of those who do survive escape with nothing but their story, something this essential collection of oral testimony records and, in a realistic way, celebrates… Time and again in this book, lives balance precariously between extraordinary acts of cruelty and lifesaving gestures of kindness.” —John Freeman for SFGate “By telling the stories of a few of the millions of southern Sudanese refugees in their own words, and taking the time to get to know these people instead of portraying them as sad faces in a CNN video clip, editor Craig Walzer succeeded in bring these refugees’ often harrowing stories to light in a realistic, nuanced way.” —Maggie Fick for the Enough Project “This riveting collection of 17 narratives puts a human face on the human-rights tragedy of Sudan. Students of global studies and international relations will find an abundance of research information in the excellent appendices, but the heart and soul of the book is most certainly in the heart-wrenching narratives of these people.” —Paula Dacker for School Library Journal

Voice of Witness (VOW) advances human rights by amplifying the voices of people impacted by injustice. Our work is driven by the transformative power of the story, and by a strong belief that an understanding of crucial issues is incomplete without deep listening and learning from people who have experienced injustice firsthand.