"I was born in Malek Alel [near the town of Aweil in Southern Sudan] and lived with my family. One day, the Murahaleen [tribal militia] attacked our village and I was taken. They came before sunrise. There were a lot of them, some came by horse and others on foot. There was shooting and many people died. They burned and looted a lot of things, and they took cattle, sheep, and utensils.

I had been afraid of the Murahaleen coming and then there was a gun shot. They put us all under trees and were shooting at people. People ran. They took the smallest children like me. Four of us were taken by two people and I was then sold on to another man for one cow. He took me to his sister who had no children.

I was taken to south Darfur near to a town called Matheri. I had to do a lot of things for my master, including domestic work. I slept outside the tent using a small bed that was covered with a carpet. I started in the morning taking about 50 cows for grazing, which was about a two hour walk. I got back at about 6.00pm and had to take the sorghum [grain] to grind at the mill in town, and then prepare their dinner. I was given no money for my work and I was not happy.

The woman treated me harshly, at night she often beat me particularly if the cows had escaped and would wake me to get them back. She beat me whenever she wanted, often many times a day.

When I was about 13 years old, she gave me to her brother's son to be his wife. He came to visit me whenever he wanted. He forced me to have sex with him, and beat me if I refused … I had three children by him. When my children were born they were also treated as slaves."

Abouk was identified by officials from the Committee for the Eradication of Abduction of Women and Children (CEAWC) in April 2005. They were able to trace her family and she was brought to a transit camp in Aweil, in the South. Abouk says:

"I feel good because I have met my family; my mother and brother and sister. My father has died. But the situation in the village is bad because I have been used to life in town. Life in the villages is very hard. When I was there before we had cows, but now there aren't any because they have all been taken by the Murahaleen.

I hope to get a house near here, rather than in the village, and get married here. I am happy to be released because I am free and before I was forced to do everything. CEAWC is very good; I am still with them now."

Read about James Aguer
Read about slavery in Sudan