This book is the result of the author’s six years work in South Sudan where he functioned as both a medical doctor and an anthropologist. He worked intermittently as a physician in the village of Ticagok, South Sudan and surrounding areas. Early in this work he began formal anthropological studies of the Dinka Agaar in addition to providing medical care. During 17 months of fieldwork, he accumulated hundreds of individual life stories, KAP surveys, kinship surveys, recordings, and photographs of evolving conditions in the area. His team’s work, enabled by numerous donors, resulted in building a large medical facility and assistance in building two schools and several water projects. It was during this time that much of the data was collected for this study.

The main aim of this book is that the reader should first feel engaged in the dialogue with the Dinka Agaar within a world where their lives and stories tell what needs telling. For this reason, stories told by the Dinka with little editing is found early in this book, earlier than the form which traditional ethnographies would otherwise take. Most of the theory is concentrated within sections that will be of special interest to students of anthropology and sociology. Otherwise, the author has embedded theory within the text, frequently in disguise. The topics of globalization, kinship, and the ethics of conflict are among the issues discussed here and often in the Dinka’s own words. Each chapter deals with a different aspect of Dinka society and life that will be of interest to students of a variety of social sciences and each topic should lead one deeper into an understanding of life in South Sudan.