The Lost Boys of Sudan are a group of Dinka youth who fled civil war in their native country, spent a decade growing up in a Kenyan refugee camp, and were eventually resettled in the United States. "Me and another guy used to put them between us and cover them with our clothes when it was cold," he said. I couldn't run because the bullets were all around me. His mother grabbed it and pulled him into an embrace. Speaking of the rape was unacceptable and left the girls vulnerable to being blamed for the rape that occurred against them. [20] These camps' inability to sustain the additional population burden made it evident to government officials that more needed to be done. Months, or even years, would go by before they'd hear news of major events. So I went and did my master's in public health, and I fell in love with a profession where I could couple my experience of living as a refugee with scientific research. The Boys We Meet in Lost Boys of Sudan Santino Majok Chuor Santino is a Southern Sudanese Dinka from Yirol. So the principle by which I live - determination, devotion, diligence and discipline. I stayed flat and waited until nighttime. Lost Boys of Sudan was a movie following the lives of two men, by the names of Peter and Santino Chuor. So I remember how I was so adjusted walking day and night nonstop, because the journey was so long, and we spent some day maybe taking rest, then we would have perished like others who did not make it because they were thirst on the way, hunger, wild animals, and so we were just walking day and night until we reached, where we eventually arrived, which was Ethiopia in 1987. I am happy to report now that the Lost Boys are married with families. [35] Moreover, the use of a brideprice was common practice in Sudan, making women more of a commodity to her husband rather than a partner. My parents and 2.5 million people were killed in the Sudan civil war. Duany, 35, is one of the so-called Lost Boys of Sudan, the estimated 20,000 young boys who fled their homes in 1987, during the country's civil war. Tell me why you chose public administration. Reach him @Bgray.jensen, A 'Lost Boy' And Former Child Soldier From Sudan Goes To Hollywood. The young boys had fled as a result of the outbreak of civil war that was taking place during the time in southern . [27][28], Not unlike other parts of Africa, Sudanese women were viewed as subordinate to men in families and villages. And he joins us today in the studio. As the war in Sudan continued to rage, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) determined that repatriation and family reunification was no longer an option for the Lost Boys. Lost Boys of Sudan follows two young Dinka refugees, Peter and Santino, through their first year in America. I remember how vulnerable children are. But it didn't work out. If you have questions about how to cite anything on our website in your project or classroom presentation, please contact your teacher. What cultural aspects of Sudan contribute to civil unrest? Now the traumatized 16-year-old stewed in his anger. I remembered how the elders had shown us how to protect ourselves, so I covered myself with a person who was dead. A young immigration officer in his navy uniform escorted her out the gate. His parents were killed, his sister and nieces enslaved. Tell students that they will see an excerpt, called "From Sudan to the United States." Artem Ryzhykov during the early days of the Russian invasion, in Irpin, Ukraine. When we see this sign that said 'Dead End' with our little English, we say, 'Wow, you go there, you will never die again.' the hardest hit. Tell us about that trip, and who did you see there? It was a tough life. "In this camp, you're literally waiting for your death," he said. I dont want to see another generation of children go through what Ive gone through and what other children of my generation went through. But the latest medical tests showed that his kidney issues had worsened: They were operating at only 5 percent capacity. Every day people were dying. Volunteers at the IRC's Boston office (now closed) took part in a mentoring program for newly arrived Kakuma youth, providing support and guidance, and organizing recreational activities to bring the young men together. As small boys, Peter and Santino lost their families to the war and were forced to flee . The Lost Boys of Sudan refers to a group of over 20,000 boys of the Nuer and Dinka ethnic groups who were displaced or orphaned during the Second Sudanese Civil War (19872005). Since 1983, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and the Sudanese government have been at war within the southern region of Sudan. I didn't have a good life when I was a young kid, but today I've learned more and I have a good life. He was sleeping in the same bed as my brother, but my brother Aleer Gideon did not get shot. From time to time, we like to tell you about the movers and shakers who don't always make it to the front page. The river was full of people. Trips to baseball games were one way many Lost Boys were introduced to life in the U.S. Atem is a former Lost Boy, one of some 40,000 children orphaned by the Sudanese civil war in the 1990s. She has also contributed to the paper's immigration beat. She was still alive. food items consumed by . And that's my priority - my first priority now just to make sure I go through all those immigration procedures, which take a while. David Ayual Mayom, originally from South Sudan, holds a photo of his family in a Kenyan refugee camp. In 1995, I went to Ifo in Kenya. Some 10,000 boys, between the ages of eight and 18, eventually made it to the Kakuma refugee campa sprawling, parched settlement of mud huts where they would live for the next eight years under the care of refugee relief organizations like the IRC. No school = no homework, which is fine by me. "We place the older boys together in apartments to try to maintain the kind of support network that they developed throughout their difficult journey and while living in the Kakuma camp," said Jon Merrill, who was then director of the IRC's resettlement program in Tucson. In the next few years, an estimated 20,000 Sudanese children fled their homeland in search of safety in what turned out to be a treacherous 1,000-mile journey to Ethiopia. The shells missed me. In 1994, I went back to Sudan. [13] Experts say the Lost Boys are the most badly war-traumatized children ever examined. Lost Boys of Sudan the Emmy-Nominated, Critically Acclaimed Documentary. Volunteers, many of whom became aware of the immense needs of this group through media coverage, also played a significant role in this area. The tenuous peace held, and in 2011 southern Sudan held a referendum in which its people almost unanimously decided to secede from Sudan and form a new nation. I was living with a group of children in Panyido, Ethiopia who had also lost their families. CORLEY: Here you are. For nearly three hours, But waited for his mother at the international arrivals gate at DFW International Airport. Relief workers called them the Lost Boys after the characters in the J.M. He suffered two strokes in 2011, and his cousins brought him back to Dallas. They were nomadic people called Turkana. This is a summary of my experiences but there is more to explain for each example I've given. Number two are my values - my family value. 1996 - 2023 National Geographic Society. I have many memories of my time in Ethiopia. Emmy Nominee National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The Foreign Office yesterday urged all Brits still in Sudan to travel to the southern port by 12pm local time (11am GMT) in order to board the final evacuation flight and escape the deadly . On Sunday, Abraham But saw his mother for the first time in 30 years. It was the last day I saw them. And also, the highlight of my visit was that I got married to my beautiful wife whom I promised - we made our promises before I came here that this was going to be our plan, and we kept our promises. Then the UNHCR came in and started bringing food. Be the first to review this title. Has our charged political climate motivated you to tell your story more? To John Bul Dau, the story is all too familiar. I stayed there for most of the night. In 2001, as part of a program established by the United States Government and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), approximately 3,800 Lost Boys were offered resettlement in the United States. We lived like that for two months. Eighty days in Kenya with a joyous family reunion, and also bringing in a new family member. Barrie. Lost Boys of Sudan PBS Premiere: Sept. 28, 2004 Check the broadcast schedule One Day I Had to Run My first memories of my childhood start when I was about five years old in my homeland of Sudan, the day when my parents' house was burned. Atem talked about his life as a "Lost Boy" and what happened when he settled in Michigan like the time his foster mom grounded him just for wanting to punch a kid who'd insulted him. Young refugees in Kakuma camp, which opened in 1992 to shelter Sudanese refugees. On the way, there was a lot of shelling on the road. It was a bipartisan agreement. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. "We didn't have an option but to drink our own urine.". Would she recognize him? Thus, they were placed into apartment complexes with one another in hopes that they would sustain the kind of family atmosphere that was cultivated in Kakuma.[24][17]. "The final work of the Obie Award-winning playwright of Zero Positive is a glowingly upbeat testament to life and love, gay and straight, now and forever. The Rights Holder for media is the person or group credited. Eamonn McCarthy - 28th April 2023 Barrie novel Peter Pan who formed a family and took care of each other in Never-Never Land. I'm so glad I'm still alive and this is my story. They are being killed. The IRC also helped these young entrepreneurs start savings accounts and access small loans to invest in their futures. I had lived with him. She was still young, but I trusted her that she would keep my promise and trusted me that I will keep her promise, too. After graduating from Hillcrest, But chose to work, hoping to earn money to help his mother and siblings back home first as a salesperson at Home Depot, then at a school cafeteria in Lousiana. But for me its a prerequisite of going to law school, which would be my long-term goal. So I want people just to keep themselves from bringing anything that cause harm to any other human being, but then put the principle of life as the number one in everything we do, because what we do affect other people somewhere. They were somehow yelling at each other while whispering at the same time. I know his name, but I haven't seen him for a while. Now what do I do with all this free time? In this narrative, the rise to power of the Islamists changed the once-hopeful course of Sudanese history. Narus was where But, now 7 or 8, learned that his father had been killed in the war several months earlier. {"type":"video","title":"Dallas News Video","author_name":"Dallas News","_id":"5wcm1hYjE6IX9wKUikHuJ8_RSPJwsxab","provider_name":"Ooyala","html":", ","raw":"{\"type\":\"video\",\"title\":\"Dallas News Video\",\"author_name\":\"Dallas News\",\"_id\":\"5wcm1hYjE6IX9wKUikHuJ8_RSPJwsxab\",\"provider_name\":\"Ooyala\",\"html\":\"\\u003Cdiv class=\\\"oo-vid-container\\\" data-oo-content-id=\\\"5wcm1hYjE6IX9wKUikHuJ8_RSPJwsxab\\\"\\u003E\\u003C\\/div\\u003E\\u003Cscript defer src=\\\"https:\\/\\/www.dallasnews.com\\/resources\\/motif\\/dist\\/js\\/ooyala.js\\\"\\u003E\\u003C\\/script\\u003E\"}","providerType":"ooyala","providerLink":"https://www.dallasnews.com/oembed","embedType":"video"}. When I got to Oboth, I met with the Sudanese people. October 4 It's official, school is closed indefinitely. I guess this outbreak is good for something. In June 1992, the boys reached Kenya's Kakuma refugee camp, where they would spend the next nine years. There was fighting. He recently returned to the Kenyan camp that was his home. Copyright International Rescue Committee, 2023. They crossed the Gilo River, which later would be the site of many deaths as other refugees attempted to flee, chased by Ethiopian rebel forces. When the US resettlement program began in 1999, one requirement was that the children must be orphans. Mr. MAJOK: The telephone. The survivors of this tragic exodus became known as the Lost Boys of Sudan. It seems that the encounter, painful as it was, proved to be a pivotal moment in your development. Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students. In the last decade, about 4,000 young Sudanese who fled from their country's civil war resettled in the United States. They know the lost boys arrived here, but they don't really know what happened to us. Atem came to Michigan with a pair of his cousins, and the cow-herding Sudanese boys had more than a few misunderstandings about life in 21st-century America. This occurs when someone experiences the loss of a family member without the closure of death, which allows for mourning and moving forward. There was no UN, no nothing. The IRC helped the Lost Boys find jobs with local employers and connected them with volunteer mentors for help studying for exams to enable them to receive a General Equivalency Diploma (GED), and in turn, apply for college. We didn't have water or anything. I was burned. This lists the logos of programs or partners of. Then ask students to write a brief summary describing who the Lost Boys are and what they experienced. [34][35] In each of these examples, the girls were taken in only as a potential profit or benefit to the family. Ayuen remembers traveling with But and a younger brother and cousin, trying to keep warm as they slept. Explore our discussion guides, reading lists, and lesson plans here. Atem talked about his life as a "Lost Boy" and what happened when he settled in Michigan like the time his foster mom grounded him just for wanting to punch a kid who'd insulted him. Barrie novel, and the media picked up on this; the group is now known collectively as The Lost Boys of Sudan. Review the vocabulary in this new context.3. person who moves to a new country or region. [14][23], Because many boys were over the age of 18, they were unable to be placed into the foster care system. It was a little bit scary.". And a Lost Boy is doing postdoc work at Johns Hopkins. Nobody can believe it that I can speak 14 different languages. CORLEY: Because you have to go through the whole visa process. Older boys took part in IRC education programs, and received support to learn trades and start small businesses to earn money to supplement relief rations. One was my father's brother-in-law. Family law consistently gave preference to men. As he just mentioned, he got married while he was there and saw his mother and his sister - a joyous occasion as he say. It was a struggle for some. the movement of people from one place to another. Then discuss the historical, cultural, and geographic factors that contributed to Sudans civil war and some of the consequences the civil warwhich lasted over twenty yearshad on Sudan and its peoples, including orphaned children, violence, famine, and disease. I followed the other children who survived to a place called Pachala. And these four Ds, plus my belief in God, telling me achieve what I want to achieve. 1145 17th Street NW Of course, we were chased by the then enemy who was fighting against Sudanese. There aren't any reviews yet. Accuracy and availability may vary. Recruited by militants in the nineties, Elijah Manyok Jok escaped to Kenya where he received World Food Programme school meals, joining the organization as an adult - and then setting up his own NGO. Washington, DC 20036, Careers| April | 136 views, 5 likes, 7 loves, 7 comments, 3 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Radio Maria - Ireland: Chatechesis with Fr. And so, we just walked, went into hiding place, (unintelligible), and then we walk that distance to a (unintelligible). It was a bullet, but I didn't know what it was. South Sudan is now teetering on the edge of civil war following several weeks of violence that have claimed the lives of at least a thousand people . They took me to the place where they had a lot of people they'd captured. So here we are. NyakMarol Kur looked disoriented as the officer tentatively pointed to the group of men waiting with But. Brennen Jensen is Baltimore-based freelancer who writes frequently for Hopkins Bloomberg Public Health Magazine and publications as diverse as AARP The Magazine and the Southern culinary publication The Local Palate. [26][27][28] Many studies have discussed a common condition among the Lost Boys of ambiguous loss. But the number one is that I have the skills and saw the value that I see I can apply in that field. More than 20,000 children living in southern Sudan lost their families, their homes and nearly all hope in 1987 because of a brutal civil war. But life was little better after reaching the Kakuma refugee camp in the Kenyan desert.