The Translator: A Tribesman’s Memoir of Darfur
The Translator: A Tribesman’s Memoir of Darfur I am the translator who has taken journalists into dangerous Darfur. It is my intention now to take you there in this book, if you have the courage to come with me.
The young life of Daoud Hari–his friends call him David–has been one of bravery and mesmerizing adventure. He is a living witness to the brutal genocide under way in Darfur.
The Translator is a suspenseful, harrowing, and deeply moving memoir of how one person has made a difference in the world–an on-the-ground account of one of the biggest stories of our time. Using his high school knowledge of languages as his weapon–while others around him were taking up arms–Daoud Hari has helped inform the world about Darfur.
Hari, a Zaghawa tribesman, grew up in a village in the Darfur region of Sudan. As a child he saw colorful weddings, raced his camels across the desert, and played games in the moonlight after his work was done. In 2003, this traditional life was shattered when helicopter gunships appeared over Darfur’s villages, followed by Sudanese-government-backed militia groups attacking on horseback, raping and murdering citizens and burning villages. Ancient hatreds and greed for natural resources had collided, and the conflagration spread.
Though Hari’s village was attacked and destroyedhis family decimated and dispersed, he himself escaped. Roaming the battlefield deserts on camels, he and a group of his friends helped survivors find food, water, and the way to safety. When international aid groups and reporters arrived, Hari offered his services as a translator and guide. In doing so, he risked his life again and again, for the government of Sudan had outlawed journalists in the region, and death was the punishment for those who aided the “foreign spies.” And then, inevitably, his luck ran out and he was captured. . . .
The Translator tells the remarkable story of a man who came face-to-face with genocide– time and again risking his own life to fight injustice and save his people.
Customer Review: The Translator
I just finished reading Hari’s memoir, having read “The Kite Runner”, similar yet different. Hari’s exposure of the atrocities in Darfur and neighboring regions is gripping and informative. His story of escape, tenacity, and faith is compelling in that it defines and redefines what it means to be human. He uses the notion of being HUMAN to plead his case, refocus country-men fighting against their own, and admonish readers to support present day initiatives in place for Darfur. Congratulations, Daoud! Keep living and keep writing.
Customer Review: A nicely done personal history of a large, sad tale
Unfortunately, the only thing that 99.999% of the world associates with the word “Darfur” is death, hate and tragedy. Daoud Hari’s small memoir reminds the reader that Darfur was once home to millions – a place of family, friend, play and work.
That is the strongest asset of this short work – it puts a human face on a large tragedy. Written in simple, elegant English and with a wry sense of humor (“Most people like me, are tall – I am six feet – and are also a little thin because of all the walking, the hard work and the dieting that is one of the many advantages of poverty.”[p. 108]), this book is an extension of Hari’s way of fighting back against the forces that are destroying Darfur. Rather than taking up arms, Hari decided to expose Darfur to the world by escorting journalists from Chad into Darfur in Sudan.
This was not a choice for the faint of heart. Journalists and their guides were considered to be spies by the government of Sudan. Hari and his journalists were exposed to gunfire, captured multiple times and eventually one group was captured, tortured and eventually released through the efforts of former presidential candidate and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson.
Before reading the book, I suggest reading “Appendix 1: A Darfur Primer” at the end of the text. It helps give his story some context.
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