Even after rebels in Darfur killed his brother, translator Daoud Hari continued to take journalists, United Nations officials and aid workers through the war-torn Sudanese region and into refugee camps in neighboring Chad, risking expulsion and imprisonment to bring stories from Darfur to the world.
He told some of those stories of his life as a translator to an audience of students, professors and community members Monday night at the Owen L. Coon Forum in the Kellogg School of Management.
“Since I have to work this job, (I know) I’ll be one day killed,” said Hari, the author of “The Translator: A Tribesman’s Memoir of Darfur.” “I choose this way to work because I have to get word out to the international community.”
Hari was interviewed by Megan McKenna, his co-author on “The Translator,” about his experiences in Darfur, his dangerous task as a translator and his kidnapping by rebel groups.
Genocide has devastated Darfur as violence between rebel groups and the Janjaweed, a government-backed militia, has killed at least 200,000 people and displaced 2.5 million more since 2003.
The Janjaweed attacked Hari’s village, killing his brother and forcing the Darfur-born Zaghawa tribesman to flee his country.
During his time in Chad, Hari said he realized that informing the international community through foreign journalists is one of best ways to end the violence in his country.
“The journalists need to (see) something in their eyes … so they want to go inside Sudan,” Hari said. “It’s very dangerous. I help them to survive, and I keep my journalists alive, and they write a lot of stories for the international community.”
Hari started translating for journalists and U.N. members visiting Darfur, as well as aid workers at the refugee camps in Chad. His familiarity with the land and language helped journalists see firsthand what was happening in an area that seemed so removed from the rest of the world, McKenna said.
Hari translated for Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters such as Nicholas Kristofof The New York Times and Paul Salopekof the Chicago Tribune.
He ended up in international news while translating for Salopek, who was working on a freelance assignment for National Geographic magazine, in August 2006. Hari, Salopek and their driver were kidnapped by a government-backed group, which sent the three to prison.
Pressure from the U.S. government led Sudan to release the three, but Hari was soon in danger once again when the government of Chad threatened to send him back to Sudan for working in Chad without official permission.
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, who helped negotiate with Sudan for Hari’s release, and immigration attorney Christopher Nugent helped secure political asylum in the United States for Hari.
“When I came here, I (left) Darfur alone, but I do not have to keep silence,” Hari said. “(A) human being is (a) human being everywhere.”
The event, organized by the Roberta Buffett Center for International and Comparative Studies and The Chicago Council on Global Affairs, was attended by about 50 people sparsely scattered throughout the auditorium.
“I want students to hear the real-life story of someone who has been there and has seen everything to give a different perspective from the literature and the movies,” said Rita Koryan, the Buffett Center’s assistant director..
Members of the audience felt more informed about the situation in Sudan after the event.
“(Hari’s talk) made Darfur more personal to me,” SESP freshman Maria Salazar said. “I’ve studied it a little, but hearing it from someone who’s been there, it put a face to the story.”
As a member of STAND: A Student Anti-Genocide Coalition, 23-year-old Karly Kupferberg, a student at the University of Nottingham, said that Hari’s talk strengthened her beliefs and motivated her to continue working on projects that create awareness for the cause.
“I go to talks and try to meet survivors just to stay inspired to keep working,” she said. “It helps break the disconnect; I think the disconnect geographically is definitely a huge problem as to why the international community is not responding.”
