FINAL BLOG ASSIGNMENT - The Translator Reflection
The book, The Translator is an autobiography written
by Sudanese native Daoud Hari, telling of his dangerous life as a translator
for international news stations, in various African countries. Daoud came from
a small village in the Darfur region of Sudan originally. As a child, he witnessed
his village being invaded by rebels, kidnappings taking place, gunfights, and
explosions taking place. As a child, Daoud is sent away by his father to a
school in El Fasher, where he will learn about politics and languages. He is
persuaded here by his brother, Ahmed that he should use his brain, not a gun to
make his life, and the lives of those around him better. As a young adult he began traveling around
African countries, such as Libya and Chad, looking for work. After a period of
doing various jobs, Daoud returns home, to see his ravaged village, destroyed
from attacks by a group of rebels known as the Janjaweed.
Following this, Daoud sets off on a quest to help those
around him, through serving as a translator for reporters trying to tell the story
of the genocides taking place in north eastern Africa. Daoud will work with
reporters from esteemed international newspapers, such as The New York Times,
NBC, and BBC, as well as for the United Nations and other
aid groups. Daoud works with various reporters throughout the course of his
life, interviewing victims of rape, torture, and abuse. A powerful section of
the book that I feel shocked both myself and my class into a state of
disbelief, was in chapters ten and eleven. Chapter eleven is entitled two and a
half million stories, and tells some incredibly horrific tales of refugees whom
Daoud interviews. Daoud learns about the terrible living conditions (shacks)
many refugees living in Chad rely on. Daoud learns of the dangers for the
girls/women in the village, as they often times are raped while looking for
firewood. After listening to many of the personal experiences of these real
life people, I feel it caused my class to have a profound realization of how corrupt
the world is.
Experiences like this can be found also in various other
places, where Daoud and others speak to refugees who have had their lives
ruined, their families taken from them, and even themselves scarred for life
from the crude experiences they have witnessed. A remarkable thing that stood
out to me here was the surreal amount of chaos and danger all around. It seems these
people are driven to kill, for selfish ambitions alone. Manslaughter is simply
a part of daily life and society for many of these people. From my reading of The
Translator I have had a new understanding of how truly broken the world is.
I have realized that without God, these people are driven selfishly to do
unspeakable things, in order to get fulfillment. They are lost, broken, and
confused. They cause harm to innocent people, killing without remorse. This is
wrong, and although I am glad news organizations such as the ones Daoud works
with exist in order to tell people about these catastrophes, I also understand
that action needs to be taken by people to stop these genocides. I believe that
this is a problem too big for anyone to stop alone. This is a situation that
simply requires God’s omnipotence and wisdom to come along, in order for people
to put an end to this destruction.
