Francis Bok shares stories of blood, war

Imagine living in a war-torn country one-third the size of the United States where over two million people have been killed, another twenty-seven million still remain in captivity and thousands unaccounted for. That country is Sudan.

“I saw people, I heard shouts for help, I looked and saw dead bodies with blood running like water in the streets,” said Francis Bok, former Sudanese slave.

Last night in the Graduate Life Center, sponsored by the International Relations Organization, Sudanese refugee Francis Bok presented his life experiences and cast light upon the issues plaguing the east African country. To a captivated audience, Bok recounted his life story about the 10 years he spent in captivity as a slave in the divided country and his subsequent journey to freedom.

“I could have chosen to take the easy route, but I stand before you to tell you the hard truth, which is by no means the easy path,” Bok said.

Bok's story of survival begins with his capture at only seven years old. Bok found himself torn away from his family on a routine trip to the local village marketplace to sell goods. It was then that he found his life forever altered.

“Something I didn't know then was that I would never make it back to see my mother, my father or my friends even to this day,” Bok said.

Bok referred to the Holocaust survivors as a source of hope and identification for himself during his own personal quest of liberation. He drew upon their need to have the global powers know of the atrocities occurring in the concentration camps and paralleled them to his own desires for the world to know about what is occurring in Sudan.

“I'm Jewish and I can completely relate to the reality of information not getting out during the Holocaust,” said Mitchel Pinsker, junior mechanical engineering major, who attended the event.

Once Bok had been captured, he found himself reduced to being a slave for his captors. Transported from his home in the southern portion of Sudan to the northern regions, Bok found himself entirely isolated and alone. Forced to serve his captors and work for many hours with little hope of adequate rest or food, Bok constantly feared for his life. Subject to constant beatings and sleeping with the cattle, he said his reality was extremely harsh.

“They cared about the animals more than they cared about me,” Bok said.

During his captivity, Bok tried on multiple occasions to escape his cruel captors, but did not succeed until he reached the age of seventeen. Once he escaped, he vowed that he would fight rather than return to his previous state.

Traveling an arduous route to freedom, in 1999 Bok eventually found himself in Cairo, Egypt. It was here that he found his first semblance of hope for the future, having escaped Sudan.

“At the same time that I was celebrating my newfound freedom, my thoughts returned to those still trapped in Sudan,” Bok said.

Eventually he made his way to the United States where he found further support, help and an audience to share his story with. Traveling across the country, Bok has been able to share his life experiences and raise awareness with many people and organizations including Congress, universities, and schools of all levels.

“He was simply brilliant and I hope that everyone will take something with them,” said Shilpi Chhotray junior environmental policy and planning major.

Bok credits his passion with the idea that, “what good is my freedom if people are still slaves, what good is my freedom if people are still dying?”

Throughout his presentation, Bok encouraged the audience to take an active role in helping to raise awareness of the issues occurring in Sudan.

“I plan on and encourage others to just tell friends, tell them to tell others and get the word out,” Pinsker said.

Leaving a lasting impression upon a tearful audience, Bok posed a question to those in the auditorium.

“I always ask the audience, what good is your freedom if you don't use it to help others?”