This collection of first-person accounts chronicles the experiences of 12 humanitarians who entered Sudan illegally to variously provide food, medical care and spiritual support to the besieged people of the Nuba Mountains. A diverse group of men and women of various ages, professions and religious beliefs, the chroniclers describe in detail the tragedies of the current war in the state of South Kordofan, their own close calls with death, and why they are committed to helping a little known group of people—Nuba civilians—as the United Nations, the African Union and all nongovernmental organizations are forbidden from crossing the border.

Editor Samuel Totten is a professor emeritus at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville.

Edited by Samuel Totten
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 284
Bibliographic Info: 53 photos, glossary, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2017
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6722-5
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2715-1
Imprint: McFarland

Glossary ix
List of Acronyms xvii
Foreword (Baroness Caroline Cox) 1
Introduction (Samuel Totten) 11
A Love for the Nuba People (Tomo Križnar) 21
Doing God’s Work (Ryan Boyette) 38
On the Frontlines of Medicine (Tom Catena, M.D.) 49
In the Service of Christ: My “Tours” in the Nuba Mountains Sister (Deirdre M. Byrne, M.D.) 64
A Son of the Nuba: From Forced Exile to My Return as a Humanitarian (George Tutu) 75
Confronting War Crimes in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan (Matt Chancey) 101
A Moral Imperative: From Conducting Research in the Nuba Mountains to Hauling Food to Those in Most Critical Need (Samuel Totten) 114
Sojourns Through Worlds of Suffering (John C. Jefferson) 160
Doctoring in the Nuba Mountains During Wartime (John P. Sutter, M.D.) 189
Medical Missions to the Nuba War Zone (Corry Chapman, M.D.) 204
Sowing Seeds of Peace: My Life at Mother of Mercy Hospital (Margaret Camarca) 210
A Small Town Doctor Responds to the Needs of the Nuba (C. Louis Perrinjaquet, M.D.) 225
Afterword (Israel W. Charny) 246
Annotated Bibliography 251
About the Contributors 259
Index 261

“If you are discouraged by the state of the world, this collection of essays may restore your faith in the capacity of individuals to make a difference…Totten’s book is life-affirming”—Independent Catholic News

“A series of page-turning stories from an obscure and terrifying war zone…anyone reading this will be inspired by the courage of these unsung heroes”—Medium

“Perhaps the most valuable aspect of Samuel Totten’s work is that it allows each reader to examine his/her conscience to see which of several options he/she might support…men and women describe, in intricate detail, the seemingly unmitigated horror that has been perpetrated against the ‘unusually goo [Nuban] People’…the contents of this collection of reports are not for the fainthearted”—Bill Younglove, Holocaust Study Specialist