Book excerpt: This collection of first-person accounts chronicles the experiences of 12 humanitarians who entered Sudan illegally to variously provide food, medical care and spiritual support to the besieged people of the Nuba Mountains. A diverse group of men and women of various ages, professions and religious beliefs, the chroniclers describe in detail the tragedies of the current war in the state of South Kordofan, their own close calls with death, and why they are committed to helping a little known group of people--Nuba civilians--as the United Nations, the African Union and all nongovernmental organizations are forbidden from crossing the border.