Halima Bashir was born in Sudan. She left to study medicine, & returned as her tribe's first qualified doctor. Janjaweed Arab militias began savagely assaulting her people. She treated the traumatised victims. After speaking to a Sudanese newspaper & to the UN charities, the secret police came for her, interrogating & torturing her.
Like the single white eyelash that graces her row of dark lashes–seen by her people as a mark of good fortune–Halima Bashir’s story stands out. Tears of the Desert is the first memoir ever written by a woman caught up in the war in Darfur. It is a survivor’s tale of a conflicted country, a resilient people, and the uncompromising spirit of a young woman who refused to be silenced. Born into the Zaghawa tribe in the Sudanese desert, Halima was doted on by her father, a cattle herder, and kept in line by her formidable grandmother. A politically astute man, Halima’s father saw to it that his daughter received a good education away from their rural surroundings. Halima excelled in her studies and exams, surpassing even the privileged Arab girls who looked down their noses at the black Africans. With her love of learning and her father’s support, Halima went on to study medicine, and at twenty-four became her village’s first formal doctor. Yet not even the symbol of good luck that dotted her eye could protect her from the encroaching conflict that would consume her land. Janjaweed Arab militias started savagely assaulting the Zaghawa, often with the backing of the Sudanese military. Then, in early 2004, the Janjaweed attacked Bashir’s village and surrounding areas, raping forty-two schoolgirls and their teachers. Bashir, who treated the traumatized victims, some as young as eight years old, could no longer remain quiet. But breaking her silence ignited a horrifying turn of events. In this harrowing and heartbreaking account, Halima Bashir sheds light on the hundreds of thousands of innocent lives being eradicated by what is fast becoming one of the most terrifying genocides of the twenty-first century. Raw and riveting, Tears of the Desert is more than just a memoir–it is Halima Bashir’s global call to action.
Halima Bashir è una giovane donna del Darfur che con coraggio e determinazione diventa il primo medico della sua comunità. Nel proprio ruolo, si ritrova testimone della continua violenza perpetrata dalla minoranza araba contro le tribù nere, soprattutto degli abusi sessuali sulle bambine. Senza farsi intimidire, denuncia con forza questi crimini all'ONU e, a sua volta, subisce feroci torture e soprusi finché riesce a fuggire in Inghilterra, dove vive tuttora con la famiglia come rifugiata politica. Queste pagine rappresentano un appello, carico di dolore e insieme di speranza perché il mondo non resti indifferente davanti allo sterminio di un popolo. Questo libro sostiene i progetti COOPI: una parte del ricavato sarà devoluta a favore delle donne vittime di violenza in Sierra Leone. www.coopi.org