Tears of the Desert: One woman's true story of surviving the horrors of Darfur

Description

Halima Bashir was born into the remote western deserts of Sudan. She grew up in a wonderfully rich environment and later went on to study medicine. At the age of twenty-four she returned to her tribe and began practising as their first ever qualified doctor. But then a dark cloud descended upon her people...Janjaweed Arab militias began savagely assaulting her people. At first, Halima tried not to get involved. But in January 2004 they attacked people in her village. Halima treated the traumatised victims and was sickened by what she saw. She decided to speak out in a Sudanese newspaper and to the UN charities. Then the secret police came for her. For days Halima was interrogated and subjected to unspeakable torture. She finally escaped but the nightmare just seemed to follow her... This inspiring story tells of one woman's determination to survive and her passion to defend her people. For the first time, we can truly understand the personal horrors of Darfur from someone who lived through it.

Halima Bashir grew up in the remote deserts of Darfur, Sudan, in a loving family that was part of the black African Zaghawa tribe. She was sent to junior and secondary school in one of the large towns of the region, a rare privilege for a girl from the village. She proved herself to be academically gifted and went on to be the first person from her sub-tribe, the Coube clan, to ever study medicine at university. She qualified as a medical doctor in the same year that war broke out in Darfur, whereupon her life sprialled into an unimaginably dark nightmare, In 2005 she fled her homeland and sought asylum in the UK.

'This is a brave book ... [Halima] leaves us with hope and awe in the face of her courage.' -- Mia Farrow 'The genocide in Darfur has found its Anne Frank ... TEARS OF THE DESERT is a searingly frank testimonial of a war crime that deserves all our attention.' -- Tim Butcher, author of Blood River 'A harrowing and beautifully written tale of a rich life, untold suffering and impossible hope told from the heart of a fellow African sister.' -- Mende Nazer, author of Slave and Freedom 'This memoir helps keep the Darfur tragedy open as a wound not yet healed.' -- Elie Wiesel 'A rare glimpse behind the statistics into the personal horror of Darfur. TV news too easily turns the whole nation into anonymous victims; Damien and Halima remind us they are people.' -- David Loyn, BBC Foreign Correspondent 'Halima's story is fantastic and exhausting ... I can see and hear and feel the people and places she describes.' -- Lisa Blaker, author of Heart of Darfur 'Halima Bashir has bared her soul to help stop the bleeding of her people in Darfur. Attention must be paid.' -- John Prendergast, co-chair of the ENOUGH Project and co-author of Not on Our Watch: The Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond