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A Memoir of Survival in Darfur
One World
September 2008
On Sale: September 9, 2008
336 pages
ISBN: 0345506251
EAN: 9780345506252
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction
Like the single white eyelash that graces her row of dark lashesβseen by her people as a mark of good fortuneβHalima Bashirβs 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 survivorβs 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, Halimaβs 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 fatherβs support, Halima went on to study medicine, and at twenty-four became her villageβs 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 Bashirβs 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 memoirβit is Halima Bashirβs global call to action.
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