Emma's war by Deborah Scroggins

I know I am not supposed to leave reviews on books I have already read, but I just have to do it anyways (and it is not on my list, so I am not compromising the 6 books on the list). E

mma’s War by Deborah Scroggins is a very fascinating and good introduction to Sudan, and in particular the long civil war between the north and the south, that ended with the Comprehensiv Peace Agreement in January 2005. Deborah Scroggins really know her Sudan and is a lot more tuned into Sudan than most Western readers trying to grip this huge and complex country, I think.

Emma McCune was an English aid worker that went to Sudan to work on Operation Lifeline Sudan, one of the biggest humanitarian aid operations in the world. She started working with education and street children (that a war torn country is full of) and somehow met one of the leaders of the SPLM, the Southern Sudanese guerilla that was fighting the north/regime during the war, Dr Riek Machar and thus getting herself straight into the war and all its complexities.

It is very exciting, even for someone who’s not been to Sudan, and it gives you a pretty good view of Sudan as well as the huge aid industry, with nothing being all black or white, no one being only perpetrator or victim. I read the book years ago, way before I started working with Sudan, so I just had to reread it. I enjoyed the read tremendously, knowing a lot more about the country, about the fighting, the intrigues, the cultures etc. Riek Machar is today the vice president of semi-autonomous soutehrn Sudan and one of the lost boys, the ones that walked to refugee camps in Ethiopia to get education and winded up in military camps, is a friend of mine. He keeps a copy of Emma’s war at home, to remind him of what really happened.

Good night,
Sara