Freedom’s advance

Dr. Gloria E. White-Hammond, co-pastor of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Boston, founded My Sister’s Keeper in 2002 in an effort to secure peace and justice throughout Sudan.

The nonprofit organization focuses on ministering to women in southern Sudan, she said, but her advocacy work spans the country.

“On the ground in Darfur, it seems like two steps forward and three steps back,” said Dr. White-Hammond, 57. “We are still working hard and confident that our labor will not be in vain.”

Dr. White-Hammond began working in 2001 with the nonprofit Christian Solidarity International and now serves on the board of its U.S. division. It was through her involvement that she learned more about slavery in Sudan.

“I was naive in that I had not understood that most of those enslaved in Sudan were women and children,” Dr. White-Hammond said. “I had a clear sense of calling to be in support of women as they reintegrated into their communities. Initially, our projects were targeted toward returning women. Then we realized that everyone was in a dire situation.”

Since 1995, tens of thousands of people from southern Sudan have been bought out of slavery, said John Eibner, chief executive officer of Christian Solidarity International USA.

In the early 1990s, the Dinka people established peace initiatives with their Arab neighbors, allowing for the return of Dinkas enslaved by Arab militias, he said.

“The local Arabs got to go to the south for water during the dry season, January to May, and trade without being attacked,” Mr. Eibner said. “In return, the Dinkas expected them not to participate in the war and help facilitate the return of slaves.”

Mr. Eibner said Christian Solidarity International supports the local mechanism for the exchange of slaves. Increasingly, slaves are being traded for cattle vaccines rather than Sudanese currency. The vaccines are difficult to access, and the typical price is about $33 per slave.

“The revival of slavery coincided with the outbreak of the civil war in 1983,” Mr. Eibner said. “With the January 2005 comprehensive peace agreement, the slave raiding in southern Sudan stopped. There was no economic change that brought it about.”

The Arabs take slaves for sex and to work in the field, he said, but mainly as trophies.

“Slavery in Sudan has primarily been a military and political phenomenon, not an economic one,” Mr. Eibner said. “There is no great economy that depends on slavery.”

Because many of the people enslaved during the raids are still being held captive, Mr. Eibner said, his work continues despite the peace agreement.

“Slavery in the Sudan is the result of a culture of jihad,” Mr. Eibner said. “It should be a lesson that jihad left to run its course results in genocide.”

Dr. White-Hammond focuses on rebuilding the lives of women and children coming out of slavery. This fall, she received some help from Kenneth Alphin, or “Big Kenny,” with the country band Big & Rich.

Mr. Alphin traveled to Akon, Sudan, with My Sister’s Keeper after arranging to take crates of aid, medical supplies, school supplies, musical instruments, clothing, building tools and candy.

He and his wife, Christiev, are helping to build a facility for the Kunyuk School for Girls. Until now, the school amounted to a chalkboard nailed to a baobab tree, he said.

“Music is what I love to do and gives me great blessings, but it is not my end-all,” Mr. Alphin said. “This is what fills my soul.”

The fastest way to elevate a community is to educate its girls and women, Dr. White-Hammond said.

My Sister’s Keeper purchased two grinding mills to provide employment opportunities for village women, she said.

“I would like for the women to know what their potential is and have a way to realize that potential,” Dr. White-Hammond said. “Education is a huge piece of that.”

Dr. White-Hammond said southern Sudan won’t know real harmony until Darfur is at peace.

Jane Wells, a producer of the award-winning documentary “The Devil Came on Horseback,” revealed the atrocities in Darfur since 2003. The film presents the story of former U.S. Marine Capt. Brian Steidle, who served as an unarmed military observer for the African Union in Darfur. He documented his experiences and took about 1,000 photographs of the genocide.

After returning to the United States, Mr. Steidle met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. He was asked by the State Department not to widely show his photos, Ms. Wells said.

Ms. Wells said Mr. Steidle’s photos are all the more important because people who inflict genocide try to hide the evidence. A congressional screening scheduled today will mark the release of the video disc.

“It is really worth noting that the Rwandan genocide, which is one that resonates with the American people, happened in 100 days, where the atrocities that have taken place in Darfur have taken place over years,” Ms. Wells said. “If ’we the people’ can let the politicians know how much we care about genocide and crimes against humanity, we can look to a future when these things can be stopped where they begin, rather than months or years later.”