Mach was born in South Sudan in 1984. Her family left South Sudan near the beginning of the civil war and she grew up in Cuba. In 1997 her family moved to Canada. She has spoken out about her experience growing up there and how it affected her identity, she said: "I was only ever told, "You are South Sudanese"... It was only much later that I learned I was Dinka." She has a degree from the University of Alberta in Literature. In 2011 she voluntarily returned to South Sudan with the aspiration to contribute positively to the new nation. On her return to Juba, the first thing she did was to touch the soil.