All eyes focused on Emmanuel Jal as he walked, alone, through the center aisle of the Chapel on April 2. His pace slow and his head lowered, it almost seemed as if he were leading an invisible, somber procession. When he reached the front of the room and turned to face the audience, he asked, "Why should I go through the trouble to tell my story?" After a moment's pause he said, "Because I want to offer my story for those who couldn't give their voice."
Jal came to Hamilton as the seventh guest in The C. Christine Johnson Voices of Color Lecture Series. The series was created to recognize Hamilton College's commitment to cultural diversity and sponsors one influential leader of color per year.
Born in Southern Sudan, Jal was a young boy when the Second Sudanese Civil War broke out, which would ultimately claim about two million civilian lives and force roughly 10,000 children into armed conflict. "I thought the world was ending," Jal said as he recalled the deafening sounds that resounded from the weaponry and the "pigs and sheep that ran in all different directions." Jal's father, a policeman, joined the Southern rebel movement and left the family. Jal's mother, a teacher, lost her job and told her children they would move to a village filled with wild animals like giraffes and rhinoceroses; to Jal this sounded like a sort of paradise.
It was in this small village that Jal would experience some of his fondest memories. One time he befriended a sheep, and the two played a headbutting game. Another time he discovered a strange sleeping animal the size of a big cat. Jal watched as a chicken stuck its head up the animal's rear end, jolting the animal awake and causing it to run away in frenzy – with the chicken still attached.
"That was my last laugh," Jal said. Not long after there was an incident in which Jal's uncle quarreled with the armed authority for more food. Finding his uncle disagreeable, the men began to physically beat him. Jal's mother tried to interfere, only to be attacked as well. Finally, Jal attempted to protect his mother and was knocked unconscious. His mother was killed.
The Southern rebels took the displaced boys (later known as the Lost Boys of Sudan) to Ethiopia in order to train them to fight. "It was exciting, a city of young people," Jal said, recalling his naïveté. For a while the boys ate ready-made food, but soon the supply ran out, forcing the boys to rely on a diet of primarily maize and beans. Malnutrition became widespread, causing many of the children to develop conditions like kwashiorkor and die. Jal distinctly remembered asking, "Where is God in all this?"
Jal then recalled a memory that embodied the "lowest low" in his life, a memory that he uses today "as a source of strength." In order to continue their training and efforts to fight, the boys were forced to cross a desert. The leaders told them to ration their water appropriately. Nevertheless, the boys ran out of food and water about a month into their journey. They drank their own urine in order to survive. Many of the boy-soldiers became violently delusional and turned against each other.
A snake came to the group every morning, and many (including a magician that traveled with the group) began to worship the creature as a god. They prayed to the snake, hoping that it would grant them what they needed to survive. Jal chose to pray to his own mother. Miraculously, a raincloud formed over the area, bringing the boys water.
But the hardship did not end there. One day, Jal's friend died of malnutrition; the boys placed the dead body under a tree and rigged bombs around it, hoping that they could lure and kill a hyena for food. The trap was unsuccessful. Jal soon learned that the magician and others were roasting and eating the bodies of the dead boys.
One desperate night, Jal turned to one of the dying boys and, almost in a trance, told him, "I will have to eat you tomorrow." But Jal prayed to God for food, hoping to avoid cannibalism. He would give God a few hours, Jal explained, and if his prayers went unanswered then he would understand that God did not exist. Hours passed, and nothing happened. Just as Jal was losing hope, a crow appeared, flying so low that Jal was able to grab it.
Eventually, the remaining members of the rebel group reached the town of Waat, where Jal met Emma McCune, a British aid worker. Insisting that Jal not become a soldier, McCune smuggled the boy to Kenya. There Jal experienced various amenities – such as soap, toilets, and household pets – for the first time. He was placed in a boarding school and gained an education.
Jal became a musician in Kenya, eventually achieving international renown. He explained, "I fuel my fight into the music." He also stated that he has gone 121 days with just one meal per day, saving the money he would have spent on the other meals. So far he has raised $85,000 and hopes to build a school in Southern Sudan named after McCune, who died in a car accident soon after rescuing him. "What my country needs is knowledge, an education," Jal said. "The best investment is in a human being."
-- by Alex Pure '12
