Advanced English Welcomes Sudanese Visitors

Four Sudanese visitors joined Maya Kehr Yoder’s Advanced English class recently after students read the book The Translator by Daoud Hari, discussing the struggles in the Darfur region of Sudan. The four men: Badri Kuku, Mohammed Sulieman, Ahmed Souleman, and Sadig Saleh, spent two hours discussing their personal experiences and those of their family members regarding the genocide in Darfur. They drank tea and shared snacks while answering several questions students came prepared to ask. It was an incredibly meaningful discussion.

All four men are from Sudan, two are specifically from Darfur and one, Sadig Saleh, is the cousin of the author Daoud Hari.

“It was so meaningful to be able to speak with these men,” said Maya Kehr Yoder, “We had read about Sadik and his family’s actions to help Daoud [the author] in Egypt and now we were able to meet the generous people we’d read about. It is amazing how small the world can seem sometimes.”

Senior Rachel Geyer said, “It’s surprising to just now be learning about a genocide in Darfur that has been happening for as long as I have been alive. It was incredible to hear in person about their personal experiences.”  

It was these personal experiences that also made an impact on senior, Rubye Ney. So much so that she studied more about the genocide in Darfur and presented her research and thoughts to us in chapel. Her passion and care for the people of Darfur was very evident through her presentation as she took what she learned in Advanced English even further.