As said in a previous post, Emily and I have been busy trying to better educate ourselves with regards to culture, race, Africa, and Ethiopia. It is amazing what you think you know until your eyes are opened to what you don't know. I think it is tough to "know" much about all four of those things growing up in a middle to upperclass white family living in white suburbia unless you actively search out information.
We watched the movie God Grew Tired of Us over the weekend. Orphaned by a tumultuous civil war and traveling barefoot across the sub-Saharan desert, John Bul Dau, Daniel Abol Pach and Panther Blor were among the 25,000 “Lost Boys” (ages 3 to 13) who fled villages, formed surrogate families and sought refuge from famine, disease, wild animals and attacks from rebel soldiers. Named by a journalist after Peter Pan’s posse of orphans who protected and provided for each other, the “Lost Boys” traveled together for five years and against all odds crossed into the UN’s refugee camp in Kakuma, Kenya. A journey’s end for some, it was only the beginning for John, Daniel and Panther, who along with 3800 other young survivors, were selected to re-settle in the United States.
The movie was eye opening to say the least. The most incredible thing to me was the drive that John Dau (one of the "Lost Boys") had to not only be successful himself but to transfer that success into help towards his country. In addition to sending money directly to his family and friends at the refugee camp, he has set up a foundation to build medical clinics in Sudan.
The cliff note version:
- a boy that survives a thousand mile walk through Africa with no other means besides other kids like himself
- he lives in a refugee camp on the brink of starvation for 5-7 years
- he is relocated to the US, where he works multiple jobs a day and gets an education
- he uses his freedom to devote his life towards helping the boys/men still at the refugee camp and to set up medical clinics in Sudan
If he can accomplish that, what are we supposed to accomplish (from a humanitarian prospective)?
No comments:
Post a Comment