Panther Alier, 31, now living in Newton, Massachusetts:

I'm from Kolnyang, a small village in south Sudan. I was born to a family of five: two sisters, two brothers. I am the youngest. My father died before I was born. When my mum died, I was taken to live with her sister in another village.

In 1983 I heard the war had started, and two of my aunt's sons went into the Sudan People's Liberation Army. It didn't affect us that much. But then in 1987 the northern government decided to go into the villages.

I was about 10. My cousins, my friends and I were outside taking care of the young cows when we heard this rumbling and it abruptly became continuous shooting. I saw people running from different directions. I got separated from my aunt and all my relatives. There were so many bullets, you heard them whistle as they were going through the air. And you saw people falling to the ground.

I couldn't see any of the Arab militiamen who were attacking us, but I saw people who had been injured, bleeding and running, carrying each other. It was like the earth was coming to an end...