I forgot and spoke in Dinka. The man grabbed me and shouted ‘This man deceived us. He is not a Nuer. He is a Dinka.’

At that moment, when I thought I was surely going to die, a young man, about 19 years old, saved my life. I heard a scream and saw him come out of nowhere. He stood in front of me, facing the man and his gun. His name is Deng Makwach and he is Nuer.

‘How can you even raise your gun to kill this man? Look at him,’ he said. ‘If you do it, you will be cursed, even as a Nuer man. If you shoot him, then you will have to kill me.’

The man was visibly very angry but did not pull the trigger. He lowered his gun and walked away from us. Deng walked with us the rest of the way to the UNMISS compound in Bor. He brought us to the space where his family was staying and gave us a space to settle until we found our next destination. We were with him for seventeen days and became good friends.