Thursday, October 20, 2016

The Lost Boys of Sudan


I’m in the reading zone these days.  Almost a book a day, luckily they are in the 200-220 page range, otherwise I wouldn’t get there.  Just finished the real life story of the how America brought over 3,800 Sudanese refugees to the United States beginning in 2000.  The book, The Lost Boys of Sudan, written by Mark Bixler, provides a historical context into the bloody wars during the Second Sudanese Civil War from 1983-2005 where over 2.5 million people were killed and left approx. 20,000 boys of two tribes (the Dinka and the Nuer) orphaned and moving out of Sudan to other countries in the region. The war was between the Christian and the Muslim sects fighting for control of the country.  The book mainly focused of the struggles of four young men, whom relocated to the Atlanta region.  The author, a newspaper columnist from Atlanta, chronicles their entry to the US, learning how to live in an apartment, getting monies to live, finding jobs, attempting to get an education, and the trials involved of working with non-profit organizations that allegedly are working on their behalf.  The stories illustrate how hard it is for foreigners to acclimate to a new country, how immigrants are constantly being taken advantage of, and that in the end, education does enhance one’s life-time dreams.  Some of the other challenges highlighted include, getting a driver’s license, working through the bureaucracy of receiving a social security card, and finding champions who will help battle through the hoops of US life.  Bixler also exposes each of the four young men’s story of survival through the most inhumane and devastatingly long wars in our world’s history.  Watching parents get tortured, peers being chased into rivers full of crocodiles ready to prey, and walking across deserts at the hottest temperatures possible with no food or water.  The book rips at one’s heart realizing that this level of human degradation occurs every day on this planet, and we as a society allow it to continue.  Religion, envy, greed, and power… they all seem to be motivators for stomping on others.  I remember watching the 60 Minutes segment a decade or so ago.  These young man are a testament to what the American Dream can be for those who have the mentorship and guidance to never give up the dream.  A compelling reminder for all that evil does lurk right around the corner and how lucky Americans are today to have the freedoms we have.

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