The Translator: A Tribesman's Memory of Darfur

"If God must break your leg He will at least teach you to limp – so it is said in Africa. This book is my poor limping – a modest account that cannot tell every story that deserves telling. I have seen and heard many things in Darfur that have broken my heart. I bring the stories to you because I know most people want others to have good lives and, when they understand the situation, they will do what they can to bend the world back toward kindness. This is when human beings, I believe, are most admirable."

The young life of Daoud Hari – his friends call him David – has been one of bravery and mesmerizing adventure. As a translator and the guide of choice to media, the US Embassy, and the United Nations, Hari became a vital link to the outside world, a living witness to the brutal genocide underway in Darfur. Most of the reporting on the great tragedies of our day has been written by journalists, and after-the-fact. Rarely, in a conflict of this magnitude, has there been an eyewitness voice to the events as they are still happening. Daoud Hari is that voice.

The Translator is a suspenseful, harrowing and deeply moving memoir of how one person can make a difference in the world – an on-the-ground account of one of the biggest stories of our time.

Daoud Hari was born in the Darfur region of Sudan. After escaping an assault on his village, he entered the refugee camps in Chad and began serving as a translator for major news organizations including The New York Times, NBC, and the BBC, as well as the UN and other aid groups. He now lives in the United States, and was part of SaveDarfur.org’s “Voices from Darfur” tour.