Program. The book was a finalist for National Book of the Year. These works highlight the continued struggles of people affected by the Second Sudanese Civil War as they attempt to integrate themselves in foreign societies. The main characters in both works struggled against racism, poverty and trauma as they attempted to construct new lives in the United States. Revival of slavery During the Sudanese civil war, from 1983 to 2005, the Sudanese army revived the use of enslavement as a weapon against the South, and particularly black Christian prisoners of war, on the purported basis that Islamic law allowed it. Janjaweed militias often destroyed black Christian villages, executed all their males and then took away the women and children as slaves. The first slave raid on the Dinka took place in February 1986. Two thousand women and children were taken. In a second raid, in February 1987, one thousand women and children were taken. Once the raiders acquired enough booty they would distribute the captives between their selves and their families. The raids continued every year after. Dinka girls kept in Northern Sudanese households were used as sex slaves. Some of them were sold in Libya. Western visitors noted that at slave markets, five or even more slaves could be bought for one rifle. Near the peak of the civil war in 1989, female black slaves were sold for 90 dollars at the slave markets. Several years later, the price of an average female black slave had dropped to $15. Many Western organisations traveled to Sudan with funds to purchase and emancipate these enslaved captives. See also Lost Boys of Sudan Lost Boys of Sudan (film) They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky A Long Walk to Water What is the What References Notes Citations Sources Further reading External links Background Q & A: The Darfur Crisis, Esther Pan, Council on Foreign Relations, cfr.org Price of Peace in Africa: Agreement in Sudan Between Government and Rebel Photojournalist's Account – Displacement of Sudan's second civil war In pictures: Sudan trek – of returning refugees after the war, BBC, 14 June 2005 With Peace, Sudan Faces Hard Choices, Washington Post, 28 July 2005 The Nuba Mountains Homepage Bishop calls for Churchwide day of prayer and fasting for an end to Sudan violence on 26 June 2011 – leading up to 9 July expected day of new independence for the Southern