سايمون دينق.... في مدينتنا....و الدعوه عامه...

Quote: Talking with Simon Deng Simon Deng Former slave whose life was 'a living hell' is on a mission to stop abuses in Sudan (Jun 6, 2007) Need to know Who: Sudanese slave turned American freedom fighter, Simon Deng Where: The Hamilton Spectator auditorium, 44 Frid Street When: Tonight at 7:30 Admission: Free Just a few short months ago, there were celebrations throughout Europe and North America to mark the 200th anniversary of the British law to abolish the slave trade. American citizen and one-time slave Simon Deng was not among the merrymakers. Now 47, Deng spent three years as a boy as a slave to an Arab family in northern Sudan after being kidnapped from a refugee camp in Sudan 's troubled south. One day, while running errands for his owners, Deng saw a man bearing the distinctive facial marks of his Shullik tribe from the south. That chance encounter led to his escape and an emotional reunion with his despondent family who had all but given up the then-12 year old for dead. Later, Deng made his way to the U.S. where he became a citizen. Today, he works as a lifeguard on Coney Island in New York . He also speaks on behalf of the American Anti-Slavery Group. He spoke to The Spectator's Sharon Boase: Spectator: What was your life like as a slave? Deng: A living hell. I was the first to get up in the morning and the last to go to bed at night and my bed wasn't fit for a human being. When they ate, I had to wait to see if there was anything left over and that would be my meal. Imagine having to say "yes" to anything that was asked of me, even things no human should be asked to do. I prayed when the sun went down that I would survive another day. When people talk about how ruthless slavery is, I know every pain of it. Spectator: You walked 300 miles last year, from the United Nations in New York to Capitol Hill in Washington , because what is happening in Darfur was called a "genocide" but nothing was being done. What do you feel was accomplished by that walk? Deng: I went before the UN because the world was hoping the UN would do something but I said the UN would never do anything. So I started at the UN by turning my back on the UN because it is not an organization that's working on the principles it was founded on. I took my cry to the nation's capital as a citizen of this nation. I was joined by thousands of people of goodwill, people who have humanity in their hearts, who walked with me. The Darfur Peace and Accountability Act sat in the House of Representatives for 13 months. The House of Representatives passed the bill when I finished the walk and it was signed into law by the president. But it is not enough. A year later, we're still talking about Darfur and slavery. Spectator: What can ordinary Canadians do? Deng: Why should we go to China for the Olympics? That should be the call today worldwide. Sudan is China 's chief source of oil. As citizens of free nations, if we agree on what it means to have freedom, let's do the right thing: We should not go to the Olympics. If China joined us, they could solve this problem overnight -- if they wanted to. Spectator: So, you're saying that, given China 's human rights record ... you're saying that the Olympic Games should be boycotted? Deng: Absolutely. If China doesn't care about human rights in China , we don't want them to promote that abuse in other places, like Sudan . We should not go to a place where they are not concerned about the life of a child like me. But if you must go to China and you win a medal, take it and turn your back on China . It would be a statement. We are not going to fight China , we are asking China to be concerned about human life. Spectator: What did you see in Sudan ? Deng: Simple things we enjoy here, clean water, a place to call home, they don't have. These people call the tree they are sitting under, their home. To see a child die before your eyes of a disease that is curable ... This is the reality in the refugee camps in southern Sudan and Darfur . Whenever I go there, I come back with nightmares.