Emmanuel Jal

Emmanuel Jal is now an international superstar, but his life has not always been super.

Born in the village of Tong in southern Sudan he was only a little boy when the civil war broke out. Emmanuel’s father joined the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) and when he was about 7 years old his mother died. Emmanuel then decided to join the thousands of children travelling to Ethiopia who had been told that they could be educated there.

However, many of the children, Emmanuel included, were recruited by the SPLA and taken to military training camps in the bush in Ethiopia. The camp was disguised as a school in front of international aid agencies and UN representatives, but behind closed doors the children were training to fight. Emmanuel spend several years fighting with the SPLA in Ethiopia, until war broke out there too and the child soldiers were forced back into Sudan by the fighting and joined the SPLA’s efforts to fight the government in the town of Juba.

When the fighting became unbearable Emmanuel and some other children decided to run away. They were on the move for three months, with many dying on the way, until they reached the town of Waat, which was the headquarter on a small group that had separated themselves from the main SPLA.

In Waat Emmanuel met Emma McCune, a British aid worker married to senior SPLA commandant Riek Machar. Emmanuel was only 11 years old then and Emma insisted he should not be a soldier. She adopted him and smuggled him to Kenya. There Emmanuel attended school in Nairobi. Sadly Emma died in a road accident a few months later, but her friends helped Emmanuel to continue his studies.

While studying in Kenya, Emmanuel started singing to ease the pain of what he has experienced. He also became very active in the community, raising money for local street children and refugees. With the encouragement of those around him, Emmanuel became increasingly involved in music and formed several groups. His first single “All We Need Is Jesus” was a hit in Kenya and received airplay in the UK.

He went on to produce his first album, “Gua”, a mix of rap in Arabic, English, Kiswahil and Nuer. The title track, called “Gua” like the CD was a number one hit in Kenya and feature on “The Rough Guide To The Music Of Sudan” and “Help: A Day In The Life”, bringing together some of Britain’s best known on a CD in aid of children in conflict zones (produced by War Child - www.warchild.org.uk).

His latest CD, “Ceasefire” was released in September. This album is a collaboration with the well known Sudanese Muslim musician Abdel Gadir Salim and brings together opposing sides of the conflict, and different music traditions, to a common ground of the wish for peace in Sudan.

Emmanuel is a spokesperson for the Make Poverty History campaign, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers and the Control Arms campaign. Among other places he performed at the Live 8 Concert in Cornwall this summer. He was awarded a 2005 American Gospel Music Award for best international artist.

To find out more about Emmanuel Jal; www.emmanueljal.net.