The Diversity and Social Justice Project and the Dean of Faculty sponsored a visit and talk on Feb. 20 by three men who were among the 3,800 "Lost Boys of Sudan" resettled in the United States after being orphaned during the Sudanese civil war. Dut Deng, Machar Majok and Majer Anyang, along with thousands of other young Sudanese boys, were forced to flee their homes and live as refugees in the late 1980s during the conflict and were eventually resettled in Syracuse, N.Y. Deng spoke about the struggles of the Lost Boys, his gratitude to those who brought him to America, and his hopes for further American attention directed towards Sudan.
Dut Deng, who also goes by his Christian name of Abraham, said that though he is very proud to have become an American citizen last year, he will never forget his childhood experiences or his homeland of Sudan. He and some of the other Lost Boys have taken it upon themselves to educate people about Sudan and their struggle to survive during the war. "If you don't know your past," he said, "then you can't know your future or where you are going."
Deng, Majok, Anyang and the other Lost Boys were only seven or eight years old in the late 1980s when their villages were attacked by government forces and their families were killed. He explained the roots of the decades-long civil war, including the conflict between the Islamic government and the non-Muslim people of southern Sudan and the oil resources in that part of the country. After they lost their families, thousands of young boys including Deng, Majok and Anyang fled from the fighting and wandered for months, eating whatever they could find. Many boys died on this journey, from starvation and thirst, wild animal attacks or drowning while crossing rivers. In situations such as this, Deng said, one must make the conscious choice to survive and have faith, hope and patience.
After a four-month journey of more than a thousand miles, they reached Ethiopia, where they lived for several years in refugee camps. In 1991 when Ethiopia began its own civil war, however, the boys were refugees yet again. With the help of the International Red Cross and the United Nations, thousands of boys made another three-month journey back through Sudan to refugee camps in Kenya.
In 2000, Deng came to America, a move he described as an incredible adjustment. He said that he was at first overwhelmed by the lights, noise, cars and the abundance of food. Initially, he said that he cried when he saw Americans throwing away food because it was such a foreign concept to him. The kind of food in America also required an adjustment. To this day, Deng said, he and the other Lost Boys can't eat many of the sugary or processed foods that Americans eat. He also said it took him a year to get used to the climate of central New York after spending his entire life in 100 degree temperatures in Africa. "It was like I was thrown into a freezer," he laughed.
Despite the difficulties of coming to the U.S., Deng said that he was incredibly grateful to all the Americans who were so generous in bringing him here and giving him opportunities. Most importantly, he said, he is grateful to God for his survival and the chances he now has. In order to thank God, he is working to build a clinic in southern Sudan, in addition to his work educating Americans about the Lost Boys and Sudan.
Americans are a great and generous people, Deng said, but they need to be reminded about the people in Africa, particularly with the genocide occurring in the western Sudanese region of Darfur. Citizens must tell the U.S. government to use its position as a superpower to diplomatically influence the situation there. "We don't need another Rwandan genocide," Deng said. After the lack of American action to stop the violence in Rwanda, many said that it happened because people didn't know the full extent of what was going on. Today, however, Deng said that no one can say they don't know what is going on in Darfur. He ended his remarks by asking Americans to encourage their government to do what it can in Sudan.
-- by Caroline Russell O'Shea '07
Dut Deng, who also goes by his Christian name of Abraham, said that though he is very proud to have become an American citizen last year, he will never forget his childhood experiences or his homeland of Sudan. He and some of the other Lost Boys have taken it upon themselves to educate people about Sudan and their struggle to survive during the war. "If you don't know your past," he said, "then you can't know your future or where you are going."
Deng, Majok, Anyang and the other Lost Boys were only seven or eight years old in the late 1980s when their villages were attacked by government forces and their families were killed. He explained the roots of the decades-long civil war, including the conflict between the Islamic government and the non-Muslim people of southern Sudan and the oil resources in that part of the country. After they lost their families, thousands of young boys including Deng, Majok and Anyang fled from the fighting and wandered for months, eating whatever they could find. Many boys died on this journey, from starvation and thirst, wild animal attacks or drowning while crossing rivers. In situations such as this, Deng said, one must make the conscious choice to survive and have faith, hope and patience.
After a four-month journey of more than a thousand miles, they reached Ethiopia, where they lived for several years in refugee camps. In 1991 when Ethiopia began its own civil war, however, the boys were refugees yet again. With the help of the International Red Cross and the United Nations, thousands of boys made another three-month journey back through Sudan to refugee camps in Kenya.
In 2000, Deng came to America, a move he described as an incredible adjustment. He said that he was at first overwhelmed by the lights, noise, cars and the abundance of food. Initially, he said that he cried when he saw Americans throwing away food because it was such a foreign concept to him. The kind of food in America also required an adjustment. To this day, Deng said, he and the other Lost Boys can't eat many of the sugary or processed foods that Americans eat. He also said it took him a year to get used to the climate of central New York after spending his entire life in 100 degree temperatures in Africa. "It was like I was thrown into a freezer," he laughed.
Despite the difficulties of coming to the U.S., Deng said that he was incredibly grateful to all the Americans who were so generous in bringing him here and giving him opportunities. Most importantly, he said, he is grateful to God for his survival and the chances he now has. In order to thank God, he is working to build a clinic in southern Sudan, in addition to his work educating Americans about the Lost Boys and Sudan.
Americans are a great and generous people, Deng said, but they need to be reminded about the people in Africa, particularly with the genocide occurring in the western Sudanese region of Darfur. Citizens must tell the U.S. government to use its position as a superpower to diplomatically influence the situation there. "We don't need another Rwandan genocide," Deng said. After the lack of American action to stop the violence in Rwanda, many said that it happened because people didn't know the full extent of what was going on. Today, however, Deng said that no one can say they don't know what is going on in Darfur. He ended his remarks by asking Americans to encourage their government to do what it can in Sudan.
-- by Caroline Russell O'Shea '07
