“I’ve had this stick since I went blind six years ago. My son led me along the road with it. Without it, and him, I would be dead now.” Photographer Brian Sokol reports on the refugees of Sudan.
In the first chapter published by BuzzFeed, Brian documented the faces and stories of those affected by the Syrian Civil War.
In this second chapter, Brian focuses on those displaced by the horrendous conflict in Southern Sudan. There were approximately 400,000 new refugees registered between January and August 2014, while according UN figures there are now 6.9 million people in need of humanitarian assistance in Sudan.
Haja Tilim, age 55.
The most important thing that Haja was able to bring with her is the patterned shawl, called a "taupe" which which she carried her 18 month old granddaughter, Bal Gaze.
Haja brought nothing else with her, not even wearing shoes during the family's 25-day journey from Fadima to the South Sudanese border. When a bomb was dropped on the home of her neighbor Issa Unis, he was killed instantly. That night, Haja and her family fled their home in Fadima Village, in Sudan's Blue Nile State. She recalls, "I started to run while wearing my sandals, but they slowed me down, so I threw them on the side of the trail."
Brian Sokol
Ahmed Sadik, age 10.
The most important thing that Ahmend was able to bring with him is "Kako," his pet monkey.
Ahmed says that he couldn't imagine life without his best friend Kako, and that the most difficult thing about leaving Blue Nile was having to leave his family's donkey behind. Kako and Ahmed made the 5-day journey from Taga to the South Sudanese border together in the back of a truck. Ahmed and his family had to flee their home in the Taga Village of Sudan's Blue Nile State, after continued campaign of aerial bombardment began.
Brian Sokol
