Sudanese refugee recounts a slave's life to students Forced into slavery at the age of 8, Sudanese man pleads for action BY TOM CAIAZZA Staff Writer CHRIS KELLY staff Former Sudanese slave, Simon Deng, tells students at Metuchen High School how, as a boy, he had to carry water from the Nile river to the home of his masters. METUCHEN - Simon Deng carries with him the scars of his past, quite literally. The forehead of this Sudanese refugee who became a stateside activist is etched with the marks of his tribe - scars meant to denote manhood and initiation. But they also serve as indirect reminders of life lived as a slave. Deng spoke to students at Metuchen High School about his years living as a slave to Arab masters in Sudan. He spoke about the beatings and the labor, and about the punishments, which were often unprovoked. But most of all he spoke for all those who could not speak. "By inviting me this morning, you have given me a chance to be a voice to the voiceless," Deng said. Deng was just 8 years old when he was abducted while helping an Arab man carry belongings to a boat waiting on the River Nile. The man gave Deng to his family as a gift, like livestock. "Today you are looking at a human being who one day was a gift," Deng said. Deng was given the work of men more than twice his age. He was forced to carry water each morning from the Nile to the home of his master. He was first to rise and last to sleep. If he spoke out, he was punished. Sometimes, even if he didn't act up, he would be punished as if he had. "I was constantly kept under terror," Deng said. "All I had to do was cry for mercy, but usually that mercy was not there. All I had was hope and patience." If he tried to run away, they would cut his legs off, Deng said. It was fear that kept him doing his owner's bidding. "I did not know how to say no," Deng said. "All I know is yes, even to the worst things to happen to a human being." His owners would call him "abeed" or black slave, and continuously urge him to convert to Islam from his native Christianity. He never did. Hope would come after three and a half years, from a chance encounter with members of his tribe on the busy streets of Kosti, a port city along the Nile, 280 kilometers south of Khartoum. They did not recognize Deng, because he had not yet been marked with the scars on his forehead. They told Deng that they would be back within a week's time with another man who they thought might know him. "When he saw me, he burst into tears," Deng said. The man arranged for Deng to escape, carefully planning for weeks a steamboat trip for Deng to get to freedom. The experience has left an indelible mark on Deng. He has traveled the globe participating in human rights commissions and events in the hope that more awareness will bring pressure on the government in Khartoum that Deng feels is perpetrating not only slavery, but genocide of non-Arab, black Christians in Sudan. Deng called the genocide happening in the Darfur section of Sudan a continuation of what has been happening there for the better part of 40 years. Deng said that in the span of the late '60s and early '70s, nearly 1.5 million Sudanese Christians were killed. During the period of 1983 to 2005, that number was closer to 2 million. "If that is not a genocide, then how do we call it?" Deng asked. Deng blames the government in Khartoum for aiding and sanctioning death squads known as the Janjaweet, which is translated as "the devils on horse." Deng said that the government allows the clandestine Janjaweet to operate, killing millions of people, while keeping the government's hands clean. *** Simon Deng paced confidently across the stage of the Metuchen High School Auditorium in a dark gray suit and red "power" tie. He is a powerfully built man with a powerful message. He spoke passionately about how those in the audience can make a difference in Darfur. "I am talking to you because you are human beings seeing other people being slaughtered," Deng said. "It takes a free person to speak for someone who is not free." Sudanese slavery is still happening today and Sudan is not the only guilty party. Some form of slavery can be found on all six inhabitable continents, including America, according to iabolish.org, an American anti-slavery group. "My fellow Americans," Deng said, "I am asking you to get involved. The action you will take today will save one life tomorrow." Deng said that given his early life, he cannot believe that he is in the United States. He is now an American citizen and lives and works as a lifeguard on Coney Island in New York. He has learned English, sat with presidents, and launched the Sudan Freedom Walk, a 300-mile trek from the United Nations to the U.S. Capitol. He traveled back to Sudan and bought the freedom of several children who were being held as slaves. He came to Metuchen by train. He has mixed feelings, though, when it comes to his experience and where to lay blame. "I don't hold it against the people who used me as a slave," Deng said. "I was a gift and they could not refuse a gift. My anger is toward the individual who kidnapped me in the first place. I'm not happy. I'm very upset." When the two presentations he was scheduled to make were finished, Deng left the same way he came, by train.