Do you maintain hope, Yaya? “Yes. There is a time for war, and there is a time for peace, but it is not soon.”
Yaya was sixteen when he had to run from Darfur, and, in the chaos, became separated from all his immediate family. He does not know who is still alive.
When they first heard the planes, they ran out to see them, since planes didn’t usually go over that area. Then he heard, boom! And then more. Another day, planes came again, and this time they dropped double the bombs.
The violence and horrors started before the bombs. Yaya was walking with his sister. Militia stopped them, and they raped his sister in front of him. One of the men wanted to rape a boy also, but another of the militia men said no.
Yaya is from the Fur tribe, from which Darfur (the land of the Fur) takes its name. He says that many died during the weeks it took to get to Chad because of lack of food and water, trying to get out of Darfur.
Wanting to believe, as Yaya, that there is a time for peace, but hoping it’s sooner,
Gabriel