“I Can’t Believe I’m a Human Being”

How did she come to take a liking to you in particular?
Well, I'm shocked. Why me? She rescued over 150 child soldiers, and it happened to be that I was the one she fell for the most. I just say that she was my angel.

Your adoptive father, her husband at the time [Riek Machar], was a rebel commander. He was out there fighting and recruiting child soldiers, right?
Actually, Emma made a deal with Riek. She was asking Riek, "Let me disarm the child soldiers." That's how they became friends. She managed to convince him.

Do you still speak to Riek?
Yeah, I still speak to him once in a while. He's busy, but he's proud of what I'm doing.

Are your birth parents still alive?
My mom, it's confirmed she's not alive. My dad, I met him when I went back to Sudan [early this year].

That must have been a strange reunion.
It was strange. There was not much connection, a lot of memories, I was confused, I didn't know what to do. Because leaving home and staying away for ages has made me lose feelings, so even when I meet my relatives I'm detached. Do you get what I mean? We were trained not to miss anyone, and not to have attachments to people. It's hard, because I cried and missed home for years, until I no longer missed anymore.

So you still have that distance?
I'm working on it now. I'm working on it.