Two benches run down the each side of the shal with a fire in the middle where families will tell stories and oral traditions.

At the back of the compound is a small yard where maize and vegetables like pumpkin, beans and peanuts are grown.

The Nuba people are primarily farmers, as well as herders who keep cattle, chickens, and other domestic animals.

They often maintain three different farms: a garden near their homes where vegetables needing constant attention, such as onions, peppers and beans, are grown; fields further up the hills where quick growing crops such as red millet can be cultivated without irrigation; and farms farther away, where white millet and other crops are planted.

The Nubas’ passion for physical excellence is also displayed through the young men's vanity—they often spend hours painting their bodies with complex patterns and decorations.

[citation needed] The primary religion of many Nuba people is Islam, with some Christians, and traditional shamanistic beliefs also prevailing.

The PDF attacks were particularly violent, and have been cited as examples of crimes against humanity that took place during the Second Sudanese Civil War[12] During the military dictatorship of Omar al-Bashir, Nuba people in the capital Khartoum were repeatedly attacked and some even killed by pro-government students and agents of the National Intelligence and Security Service.

At one time the area was considered a place of refuge, bringing together people of many different tongues and backgrounds who were fleeing oppressive governments and slave traders.

The Nuba Mountains mark the southern border of the sands of the desert and the northern limit of good soils washed down by the Nile River.

Many Nuba, however, have migrated to the Sudanese capital of Khartoum to escape persecution and the effects of Sudan's civil war.

Nuba villages are often built where valleys run from the hills out on to the surrounding plains, because water is easier to find at such points and wells can be used all year long.

International observers and advisors were quickly dispatched to Kadugli and several deployed into the mountains to co-located with SPLA command elements, with the base camp located in Kauda.

However, conflict between northern and southern forces, and against the Nuba peoples was renewed again in the region in 2011 in South Kordofan and Blue Nile.