Photos: A Slave Liberation Ceremony in South Sudan

(Lorton Patch Editor James Cullum recently returned from the new African Country of South Sudan.)

It costs about $109 in cattle vaccine to free a slave in Sudan. A Muslim slave retriever travels from South Sudan (which became a country in 2011) and trades the medicine for slaves, many of whom were taken from their homes during Sudan's 22-year civil war.

The journey south for this underground railroad takes a week on foot, and it is perilous - especially for a group of 300 recently liberated slaves. The group slept under cover during the day and walked at night. 

The liberations were made possible by Christian Solidarity International, which provides the vaccine, has freed tens of thousands and estimates that there are still 35,000 slaves in Sudan.

The group of 300 liberated slaves finally stopped in Amethi, South Sudan, (no electricity or running water) where they met CSI representatives and took away "sacks of hope" with food and cooking tools and a goat apiece. The goats are donated by the Goats for the Old Goat non-profit run by Ellen Ratner, Bureau Chief of the Talk Radio News Service. 

Ratner questioned many of the liberated slaves and also showed them something many had never seen before - a mirror. 

"I am beautiful," said a 30-year-old liberated slave in Aweil, South Sudan, as she looked at herself in a mirror for the first time.

Ratner, a former psychotherapist, has been to Sudan 20 times over the last five years (every three months). Last year, she adopted Keer, a former South Sudanese slave who was blinded by his masters.  

"The mirror was incredibly powerful," said Ratner. "It's so simple, so ordinary to us. Some of them had seen their reflection in water, but it's not the same. Can you imagine going your entire life without knowing what you look like?"