The Nuba Mountains are natural granite fortresses in the savannahs of South Kordofan in Sudan, and have throughout history provided shelter for various African peoples running away from slave hunters. The harsh natural conditions are probably the reason why the tribes living in the Nuba Mountains never established any institutions or social hierarchies. Instead of being led by tyrants, they gathered around the village sages who take care of peace, heal the sick and make rain. Rather than developing a material civilisation, the Nuba cherish the fertile life power and the great Secret which, they believe, is responsible for the life of the universe, and therefore nourishes everything that exists: plants, animals and humans.

The Nuba Mountains not only preserved the primordial Africa, but also original human sensitivity and democracy, and are therefore a unique phenomenon.

When I first visited the Nuba Mountains in 1980, I met the happiest and healthiest people on the planet. I called them pure people.

Nineteen years, and two million victims of the Sudanese civil war later, the Nuba Mountains are sealed shut and cut off from the world.

Fifteen years ago they were two million strong, and today there remain only 250,000 who are sill fighting for the right to be Nuba.
The genocide is being perpetrated in secrecy: no observer, no reporter, no humanitarian organisation is allowed to enter the area.

In the dry season of 1998, with the help of my bike I managed to sneak through the government lines….

NUBA: pure people