Emma McCune (3 February 1964 – 24 November 1993
was a British
foreign aid worker in Sudan who married then-guerrilla leader
Riek Machar
Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon (born 26 November 1952) is a South Sudanese politician who has served as the vice president of South Sudan on several occasions, most recently as the first vice president, since 2020.
A member of the Nuer ethnic group ...
. She was killed when hit by a
matatu
In Kenya, matatu or matatus (known as mathree in Sheng) are privately owned minibuses used as share taxis. Often decorated, many ''matatu'' feature portraits of famous people or slogans and sayings. Likewise, the music they play is also aimed ...
in Kenya whilst expecting her first child.
Biography
Emma McCune was born in
Assam, India
Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...
, in 1964 to British expatriates Julian and Maggie McCune. She was the oldest of four children. The family moved to Yorkshire, England, when Emma was 2 years old in 1966.
She attended Convent of the Assumption in Richmond, England. She studied art and art history from 1984 to 1986 at
Oxford Polytechnic
A polytechnic is an educational institution that primarily focuses on vocational education, applied sciences, and career pathways. They are sometimes referred to as ''institutes of technology'', ''vocational institutes'', or ''universities of app ...
. There she became interested in Africa. Emma later attended
SOAS University of London
The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...
.
In 1985 Emma flew to Australia and back in a single-engined light aircraft with her friend Bill Hall.
Sudan
McCune went to war-torn Sudan in 1987 at age 23 to teach for the British organization Volunteer Services Overseas. After reluctantly returning to England in 1988 McCune once again returned to Sudan in 1989 to work for the
UNICEF
UNICEF ( ), originally the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, officially United Nations Children's Fund since 1953, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Development a ...
-funded Canadian organisation
Street Kids International, which founded or re-opened more than 100 village schools in the country's south. McCune spent much of the late 1980s in the south in the midst of war and famine.
Riek Machar
McCune met Riek Machar, a senior commander in the
Sudan People’s Liberation Army, in 1989 through her role as an aid worker in Sudan. They were instantly attracted to one another
despite Machar already having a Sudanese wife, Angela, who was living in England with the couple’s three children at the time.
In June 1991, McCune wed Machar in
Nasir, Sudan. The wedding happened amid quarreling between Machar, SPLA chairman
John Garang
John Garang De Mabior (June 23, 1945 – July 30, 2005) was a Sudanese politician and revolutionary leader. From 1983 to 2005, he led the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M, Now known as South Sudan People's Defense Forces) as a co ...
and other SPLA leaders. Garang accused Emma of being a British spy and of using her influence over her husband to orchestrate a coup against him. McCune dismissed Garang’s accusations as ridiculous in an interview with
The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
journalist Richard Ellis.
After taking up with Machar, including using a UN-supplied typewriter to produce
manifesto
A manifesto is a written declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party, or government. A manifesto can accept a previously published opinion or public consensus, but many prominent ...
s, she was fired by Street Kids International. She lived with Machar as war intensified and he split his faction away from the larger movement. At one point they fled a machine-gun attack. In 1993, after becoming pregnant, she moved to Nairobi; she and her unborn child died in a car crash in Nairobi, Kenya.
Publications
Emma's mother, Maggie McCune, published her story in ''Till the Sun Grows Cold''.
Journalist
Deborah Scroggins
Deborah Scroggins (November 27, 1961 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American journalist and author. She heads the ''Research and Analysis Directorate'', Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.
Early life
Deborah Lane Scroggins was ...
wrote an
unauthorised biography
An unauthorized biography, sometimes called a kiss-and-tell, or a tell-all, is a biography written without the subject's permission or input. The term is usually restricted to biographies written within the subject's lifetime or shortly after t ...
of her, ''
Emma's War''. "In my heart, I'm Sudanese," she once said, according to Scroggins. Scroggins' depiction of the young British
aid worker
Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. The primary objective of humanitarian a ...
is complicated and often critical. McCune is depicted as a woman willing to bravely confront
military warlords for help allowing Sudanese children to be schooled in their villages but later, after marrying that same warlord, is able to deny to herself the corruption and horrific violence resulting from her husband's civil war struggle.
The book had been optioned for a film to be directed by
Tony Scott
Anthony David Leighton Scott (21 June 1944 – 19 August 2012) was a British film director and producer.
He made his theatrical film debut with ''The Hunger (1983 film), The Hunger'' (1983) and went on to direct highly successful action and t ...
, but the family objected to a film based on the book, delaying its production. The film was still in development at the time of Scott's death in 2012; its fate remains unclear.
Legacy
Emma assisted more than 150
war children
War children are those born to a local parent and a parent belonging to a foreign military force (usually an occupying force, but also military personnel stationed at military bases on foreign soil). Having a child by a member of a belligerent ...
in Sudan including
hip hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
artist
Emmanuel Jal
Emmanuel Jal (née Jal Jok, 1 January 1980) is a South Sudanese-Canadian artist, actor, author, former child soldier, and political activist. His autobiography, ''War Child: A Child Soldier's Story'', was published in 2009.
Childhood
Jal wa ...
and is the title subject of his song "Emma McCune" on his 2008 album ''Warchild''.
References
External links
Out of her depth– review of ''Emma's War''
– review at
Salon.com
''Salon'' is an American politically progressive and liberal news and opinion website created in 1995. It publishes articles on U.S. politics, culture, and current events.
Content and coverage
''Salon'' covers a variety of topics, includ ...
Emma's War– official book site
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCune, Emma
1964 births
1993 deaths
Road incident deaths in Kenya
British expatriates in Sudan
British activists
British women activists
Sudanese educators
Sudanese women educators
Alumni of SOAS University of London