What reading means to me is ... I only learnt to read when I was fifteen, but maybe that's why reading touches my consciousness so directly. It’s the only thing that calms me down. Reading also challenges me to think critically and question things I thought I knew.

I want to share my story because ... I want to raise public awareness of the incredible lives people are leading out there. Especially in South Sudan. And their lives are not too different from the life I lived back then. There’s not a great deal of change or progress, but the world is slowly becoming aware of it. That's why I want to tell my story. 

My favourite book is ... Things Fall Apart by Nigerian author Chinua Achebe. Also Animal Farm by George Orwell and The Speeches of Lord Erskine. 

Stories are important because ... every person has a story. The more people’s stories you understand, the more worldly you are. Stories are what have kept our kind going, from the dawn of time until today. Stories are knowledge, culture and wisdom.

My favourite place to read is ... everywhere. No matter how noisy a place is, people could be shouting next to me, and I will shut off my ears and get lost in a book. So every place is a place to read for me.