Sudan: A Cry for Compassion
Story and photos by Ryan Spencer Reed
Written just prior to Easter 2004

In late November of last year I awoke before dawn in southern Sudan to what I thought was the sound of a rooster crowing. As I slowly came to, I realized the high-pitched echo breaking through the stillness and the distinctive Sudanese night sounds of crickets was no rooster. I had heard this sound only twice before, but now I was sure, for there is no other sound like Sudanese women crying for their dead.

As a photojournalist, my first impulse was to grab my camera, but it was still dark so I knew I couldn’t capture images to pay homage to and document their grief, so instead I gathered my audio recording equipment and stumbled out to get closer to the cries. I approached the group of women huddled in grief. A fire dimly lit the scene. I kneeled to pay my respects and to record. Then, as if grieving themselves, the roosters began their daily ritual; at first barely audible off in the distance, then another crow, closer, and then another, women and roosters, lamenting recent death. The catastrophic and the normal, again joining hands in Sudan. Story continues...
"Compassion" slide show | "Compassion" thumbnails