Blind Former Slave From Sudan Taken To The US For Eye Surgery
6 min readKer Aleu in the US for Treatment
Follow Ker Alue on his journey in the US
Ker Aleu Deng one of the Teenage Captives to be Freed by CSI
"I don’t know where I was born. All I can remember is living in the North with my mother (Angel Mangok Diing) and Zakaria Salih. Zakaria was our master. My mother lived with him as a concubine. My mother told me that my father died and that we were captured and taken to the North by Murahaleen (Baggara Arab) raiders. We lived with Zakaria in a village called Jama Jur. (It’s in Kordofan, between Meiram and Muglad.) My main work was to look after goats and pick hibiscus leaves for tea. Zakaria was a violent man. He often fought with my mother. Sometimes it was so bad she would run away to neighbors for protection. Sometimes Zacharia would chase us away. He beat both of us a lot. He usually used a camel whip. I had to call Zacharia “father”. But he called us bad names, like “kafir” (unclean infidel), “abd” (slave) and “jengei” (nigger). He never called me “son”. He gave me an Arab name “Abakir), and never called my by my real Dinka name. My mother gave birth to Zacharia’s children. My half brothers and sisters were unkind to me. I don’t know what happened to them. They disappeared and no one told me where they went. Zacharia sent me to khalwa (Islamic school) to learn how to be a good Muslim. I was taught there that a kafir is a dirty person who does not know God and eats filthy things. Zacharia blinded me by hanging me upside down from a tree and rubbing chili pepper in my eyes. He left me hanging there for a long time. To add to my misery he lit a fire near me so the smoke would drift into my face. I screamed throughout the ordeal. I thought I would die. Zacharia did this because he said I didn’t do my work properly. He accused me of allowing hibiscus leave to get wet, allowing his animal to get lost and skipping Islamic instruction at khalwa. He also claimed that my mother and I were planning to escape. I was saved by a neighbor named Bakhit. He was an imam. Bakhit took me into his home and gave me work to do. At first I could still see. But my sight gradually deteriorated. Now I can see nothing, expect some strong light in one eye. (Ker reacted strongly when a close-up flash photo was taken at night.) Bakhit did not abuse me like Zacharia. He was a kind man. But once I became completely blind, he said I was of no use to him. So he gave me to Osman Bashir, who brought me to the South. Since coming back (in May 2010), I have been staying with people from a church in Ariath. I like being at the church services. The church also provides some education. I like sitting in on the classes and listening to what is being said."
Compiled by JE, based on GW’s interview on 19 May, translated by Dr. Luka and JE’s interview on September 11, translated by Akuei Akuein.
Ker arrives in the US
Ker arrived in New York on the 16th of August. He was accompanied by CSI’s field physician Dr. Luka Deng. They went on the same day to the Manhattan headquarters of Lighthouse International for an initial eye examination. On the following day, they went to Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia for a more sophisticated examination. The doctors at Wills found that one eye is so badly damaged that there can be no repair. There is some hope that Ker will have some sight in the other eye following surgery, but it is by no means certain. Surgery is scheduled at Wills for tomorrow morning.
Live Blog: Blind Former Slave From Sudan Taken To The US For Eye Surgery
We are in Philadelphia and Ker will be getting surgery at 7:30 am. I met Ker on one of my trips to South Sudan.Christian Solidarity International (CSI) introduced Ker to me as they knew I had eye contacts and had lost most of my vision in my right eye. I became very attached to Ker.
For those of you new to this, Ker is the teen that was taken to slavery with his mother as part of war booty during the war between the North and the South that lasted 22 years. The North is Arab Muslim and the South is Christian. Ker’s slave mater was afraid his mother would leave and hung him upside down from a tree, lit a fire under him and rubbed hot peppers in his eyes. That, I am told is like pouring acid into his eyes.
After much pushing we finally got him a visa to come to the United Staates. He came a week ago and is having surgery at Wills Eye with a glaucoma surgeon, a retina surgeon and a cornea transplant surgeon. The outcome we have been warned will most likely not be good and the most we can expect is useable vision — shapes, colors but not the ability to read. However, useable vision at this point would be a vast improvement.
He was alsoevaluated at Lighthouse International and will get services for low vision soon! The head of this team is my Surgeon, Dr. Julia Haller, who is the chief at Wills.
Most of you know I am a Spiritualist — I believe in distant healing — please send good, thoughts, energy and prayers if that is your belief to Ker — I will be updating though the day.
Update on Wednesday, August 24, 2011 at 8:49AM by 
Geoff Holtzman
Ker went into surgery at Wills Eye Institute at 7:30 this morning. First is the Glaucoma surgeon to make sure the eye pressure is controlled. Then a plastic cornea so Dr. Haller can look and see if there needs to be any retina repairs, then Dr. Hammersmith will put in a donor cornea.
The cornea is from a young person (not good for that young person who passed) and is donated by the Lions. Dr. Hammersmith says it is a beautiful cornea. We could not ask for a better eye team in the whole world. He will not get a lens, but as I learned from my eye you do not need a lens to see. That would be too much surgery for today. Dr. Haller said to have low expectations, that is difficult.
Below is a photo of Dr. Haller, Dr. Hammersmith, Ker’s translator, Agot, and the nurse and Ker.
PaanLuel Wël:Washington DC, USA.
http://paanluelwel2011.wordpress.com/
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