Francis Bok facts for kids

Francis Piol Bol Bok was born in February 1979 in Sudan. He is a member of the Dinka people from South Sudan. When he was a child, he was forced into slavery for ten years. After he escaped, he became an abolitionist, which means he works to end slavery. He is also an author and now lives in the United States.

Francis Bok's Story

On May 15, 1986, when Francis was just seven years old, he was captured. This happened during an attack by an armed group in his village of Nyamlell in southern Sudan. This was during the Second Sudanese Civil War, a big conflict in the country. Francis was forced to work as a slave for ten years. He finally escaped when he was a teenager. He traveled a long way from Kurdufan, Sudan, to Cairo, Egypt, and then to the United States.

Many different people helped Francis on his journey to freedom. A Muslim family in northern Sudan, who believed slavery was wrong, gave him a bus ticket to Khartoum. In Khartoum, other Dinka people and members of the Fur people helped him. His trip to the United States was paid for by a church group called the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. When he first arrived in the U.S., a refugee from Somalia helped him settle in Fargo, North Dakota.

Francis Bok has shared his story with important leaders. He has spoken to the United States Senate and met with presidents and secretaries of state. He has also been honored by the United States Olympic Committee and sports teams like the Boston Celtics. Colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada have also recognized him. Today, Francis lives in Kansas. He works for the American Anti-Slavery Group (AASG) and Sudan Sunrise, an organization that works for peace in Sudan. Francis wrote a book about his life called Escape from Slavery: The True Story of My Ten Years in Captivity and My Journey to Freedom in America.

His Childhood and Capture

Francis Bok grew up in a large Catholic family. They were cattle herders in a Dinka village called Gurion in Southern Sudan. His father, Bol Buk Dol, owned many cattle, sheep, and goats. When Francis was captured at age seven, he knew very little about the world outside his village. He could not even count past ten.

On May 15, 1986, Francis's mother, Adut Al Akok, sent him to the village of Nyamlell. He went with his older brothers and sisters and some neighbors to sell eggs and peanuts at the market. This was Francis's first time going to the market without his mother. It was also the first time he was allowed to sell some of his family's goods.

Nyamlell is in North Bahr al Ghazal

At the market, Francis heard adults talking about smoke from nearby villages and gunshots. Suddenly, people started running away. Francis saw horsemen with machine guns. These armed men surrounded the market and shot the men in Nyamlell. The attackers were part of an Islamic armed group from northern Sudan. They often raided villages of their Dinka neighbors, who were Christians or followed traditional African religions.

Life as a Slave

Seven-year-old Francis Bok was captured by a man named Giemma. Giemma was part of the group that hunted for slaves. Francis was forced to join a group of slaves and stolen goods. When the attackers split up, Giemma took Francis with him. When they arrived at Giemma's home, Giemma's children beat Francis with sticks. They called him abeed, which means 'slave' and is a very insulting word. Francis was given a small hut near Giemma's animals to live in.

Francis spent ten years as a slave for Giemma and his son Hamid. He had to take care of their animals, like cattle, horses, and camels. He took them to pastures and watering holes. There, he saw other Dinka boys who were also forced to tend animals. Francis began to realize his life had changed forever. He thought his father would not be able to save him. He tried to talk to the other Dinka boys, but they spoke Arabic, which he did not understand. They also seemed scared to talk to him.

As Francis grew older, Giemma and Hamid started to trust him more with the animals. Francis was allowed to spend more time alone with the herds. Before, Hamid or Giemma always watched him closely. Giemma also forced Francis to change his religion to Islam. He made Francis take the Arabic name Abdul Rahman, which means 'servant of the compassionate one'. In his book, Francis says that even though he was forced to change his religion, he never stopped praying to God for strength.

Francis tried to run away twice when he was 14. The first time, he ran for several miles after being sent out with the cattle. But one of Giemma's friends caught him. This friend brought Francis back to Giemma's home, where he was beaten with a bullwhip. Francis tried to escape again just two days later. He ran in a different direction, staying in the forest. He stopped for water at a stream, where Giemma happened to be. Giemma forced Francis to come back home and threatened to kill him. Francis was beaten again. But Giemma decided not to kill him because Francis had become too valuable as a slave.

His Escape to Freedom

Francis waited three more years, until 1996, before trying to escape again. During those years, he continued to care for the animals and slowly regained Giemma's trust. Giemma often praised Francis's work, but still kept him as a slave.

When Francis was 17, he finally escaped from Giemma. He walked through the forest to a nearby market town called Mutari. Francis went to the local police station for help. He asked the police to help him find his family. But instead of helping, the police made him their slave for two months. Francis escaped from the police by taking their donkeys to the well, tying them up, and then walking away into the busy marketplace.

Francis asked a man with a truck to give him a ride out of Mutari. The man, a Muslim named Abdah, agreed to help him. Abdah believed slavery was wrong. He drove Francis to the town of Ed-Da'Ein in the back of his truck, hidden among grain and onions. Francis stayed with Abdah, his wife, and their two sons for two months. Abdah tried to find a way to take Francis to Khartoum, the capital city of Sudan. When he couldn't find anyone to give Francis a ride, Abdah bought him a bus ticket to Khartoum. Francis arrived in Khartoum with no money and nowhere to go. A stranger eventually helped him find other Dinka people in a settlement called Jabarona.

Journey to the United States

Jabarona was full of Dinka refugees who had fled the fighting in southern Sudan. They were forced to live in very poor conditions. Francis settled among people from the Aweil area and started using his Christian name, Francis, again. Soon, the Sudanese police arrested Francis. He had told his friends and neighbors that he had been a slave. The government in Khartoum often denied that slavery existed, and anyone who spoke about it could be arrested or even killed. Francis was questioned many times in prison. Each time, he denied that he was a slave. After seven months, he was finally released. Once free, Francis decided he had to leave Sudan. With help from some Dinka people, he got a Sudanese passport on the black market and a ticket to Cairo.

When Francis arrived in Cairo in April 1999, he was told to go to Sacred Heart Catholic Church. This church was known among the Dinka in Khartoum as a safe place in Cairo. While staying at Sacred Heart, Francis began to learn some English. He also made important friends among the Dinka people living in Cairo. He could practice his Christian faith without fear. Eventually, he moved out of the church and into an apartment with other Dinka people. They were all trying to get UN refugee status so they could leave Africa for the United States, Great Britain, or Australia.

Francis applied for and received UN refugee status on September 15, 1999. After several months of waiting, the United States agreed to let him move to the U.S. He flew from Cairo to New York City on August 13, 1999. From there, he flew to Fargo, North Dakota. His journey was supported by Lutheran Social Services and a United Methodist Church. These groups worked together to give him an apartment in Fargo and help him find a job. Francis worked several jobs, making things like wooden pallets and plastic knobs for car gearshifts. He heard that many Dinka people lived in Ames, Iowa, so he moved there after a few months in Fargo. While living in Ames, he was contacted by Charles Jacobs, who started the American Anti-Slavery Group (AASG) in Boston, Massachusetts.

Working to End Slavery

Jesse Sage, who works for the American Anti-Slavery Group, and Charles Jacobs convinced Francis to move to Boston. They wanted him to work with the AASG. At first, Francis didn't want to leave his new friends in Ames. But the people at AASG kept asking him. He arrived in Boston on May 14, 2000. AASG helped him find an apartment. A week after moving to Boston, he was asked to speak at a church in Roxbury. He was also interviewed by a newspaper called The Boston Globe. Two days after his speech, Francis was asked to meet with supporters of AASG in Washington, D.C., at the United States Capitol. He returned to Washington on September 28, 2000. He became the first escaped slave to speak before the United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Francis was invited to Washington again in 2002 for the signing of the Sudan Peace Act. He met with President George W. Bush at the White House. During this trip, Francis became the first former slave to meet with a U.S. President since the 1800s.

Francis Bok has spoken at churches and universities across the United States and Canada. He even helped launch the American Anti-Slavery Group's website, iAbolish.org, at a concert in front of 40,000 people on April 28, 2001. Perry Farrell, a musician, was an early supporter of the iAbolish movement. Francis has also been honored by the Boston Celtics basketball team. He was chosen to carry the Olympic Torch past Plymouth Rock before the 2002 Winter Olympics. His book, Escape from Slavery: The True Story of My Ten Years in Captivity and My Journey to Freedom in America, was published in 2003.

Francis now lives in Kansas with his wife, Atak, and their two young children, Buk and Dhai. He works for the AASG's office in Kansas. He also works with Sudan Sunrise, an organization based in Lenexa, Kansas, that works for peace and unity in Sudan.

See also

In Spanish: Francis Bok para niños

• Mende Nazer
• Lost Boys of Sudan
• Slavery in Sudan
• List of slaves