Mende Nazer

But as for me, I will hope continually, And will praise You yet more and more.- Psalms 71: 14

This book taught me that hope and faith in your heritage and faith in yourself can move valleys. Because there is always a better tomorrow. Never lose hope for a better tomorrow. Mende taught me through this work that it takes courage to tell your story even the most broken parts of it because telling your story is helping others to understand who you are and to not define you or put you in a box. Yes she was a slave. But she was first and foremost her daughter of her father. Then she was a Nuba. Then she was a Karko. Her father and her tribe kept her strong during her years of slavery. She has a better tomorrow today because she never gave up on believing that a better day would come and she was patient and wise enough to have a memory as sharp and refined as she does to recall everything that she experienced in slavery so that her story may not be in vain and that her message of love and freedom will always remain strong like a candle in our hearts.

Thank you Mende for sharing your astounding story.… (mehr)

Review: Slave by Mende Nazer~~Damien Lewis.

This book is a true story about a young girl, taken from her family in the middle of the night and forced to be a slave. This traumatic and extremely abusive situation is still going on today. This story was difficult to read , yet I read on and envisioned and felt the horror this one girl went through and just knowing that there are many more children and adults out there still fighting for freedom. Even though Mende’s story sadden me I’m glad I read the book and grateful to read Mende Nazer conclusion to her story. It was well written and an eye-opener to readers to know what goes on around us, each and everyday… “Child Abuse”…..

I’m having a hard time reviewing this book because it so unacceptable and disturbing what people can do to one another without a second thought. It’s more disturbing knowing that this tremendous act is still occurring in Sudan, the Middle East and North Africa.

Mende came from village in the Nuba Mountains in Sudan. At the age of twelve she was kidnapped by overpowering Arab raiders who killed the men, raped the women and captured the children of the rural village to sell as slaves. Mende was raped by an Arab raider and than sold to a cruel Arab family in Khartoum. At that home she was beaten, tortured and emotionally tormented by the evil women who Mende called, “Master Rahab”. Mende was a possession, paid no wages, given no freedom, often disgraced, her clothes were rags, and had only scraps of food to eat left over from the plates of the family’s dinner. After Mende got a certain age she was passed on to live in London with Master Rahab’s sister’s family. Rehab decided she wanted another young girl for her slave…..

There is so much to this story that I haven’t touched on to give other readers the interest and education to read the book….
… (mehr)

Mende Nazer's absorbing account of her abduction and her many years as a slave for rich Arabs is as harrowing to read today as when it was written more than 10 years ago. I expect little has changed in the situation she describes with such horror. The first part of the book, about her childhood in Southern Sudan is equally an eye opener, but for a very different reason: She describes a warm and including close-knit and well-developed society with strong family values, and a great sense of humour and joy. Still, one of the most horrific scenes takes place before her abduction, as she is circumcised the traditional way as a young girl. This vile practice is as abhorrent as the slave trade. The book is co-written by film maker and journalist Damien Lewis, a true story teller.… (mehr)

Le tre parti di questo bel romanzo-verità autobiografico scandiscono le “tre vite” che nei suoi soli 22 anni la protagonista ha attraversato: l’infanzia nel villaggio nuba; la schiavitù nelle due capitali Khartoum e Londra; la libertà, o meglio quello spiraglio di libertà che le si è infine aperto. Quella di Mende (nella sua lingua significa “gazzella”) è la storia di migliaia di bambine e bambini dei paesi del Sud del mondo che vengono rapiti, violentati e schiavizzati fin nel cuore delle nostre civilissime città. Storia essenzialmente al femminile, dove l’identità di genere e la solidarietà emergono solo tra donne schiave - le altre hanno assunto totalmente mentalità e comportamenti tipicamente maschili… La libertà rinascerà dapprima come sogno e speranza, dopo una discesa nella più profonda depressione, quando casualmente qualcuno farà riaffiorare nella ragazza la coscienza della sua identità e della sua dignità personale e culturale.
Romanzo di denuncia spietata, ma raccontato senza spirito di vendetta o rancori, dove traspare sempre quella profondissima forza interiore che viene da un’infanzia non facile ma serena e protetta, nel villaggio sui monti Nuba, dall’assimilazione di una dimensione culturale e sociale che nemmeno le sofferenze più atroci potranno cancellare. In copertina, la foto di Mende in persona.… (mehr)