Emma's War

This is a book about a British aid worker who married a Southern Sudanese guerrilla fighter. Her name was Emma McCune. The book is by journalist Deborah Scoggins. It is one of the best books I've seen that explains Sudanese history and what is going on today.

When I have met Lost Boys and bring the book with me, it animates them immediately. Emma McCune married a guerrilla leader from the Nuer ethnic group named Riek. She was his second wife. She was later killed in a car accident in Nairobi.

Of course, she could not be an aid worker any longer. She had taken sides in the conflict. The she was swallowed up by a conflict larger than her.

You can see what a messy situation this is. It is nice to help but you cannot just throw yourself into this place. Emma McCune did this and paid the price for her folly.