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I strongly recommend this book, as it gives a wider view of the situation in southern Sudan.
Valentino Achak Deng becomes separated from his family when the murahaleen decimated his vilage. No more than maybe 8 years old at the time, Deng became a refugee in war ravaged southern Sudan and becoming one of the 'Lost Boys' of Sudan. Frightened and starving he and many other boys walked from their Dinka region in southern Sudan to Ethiopia, then Kenya. His travels brings him in constant danger and possible death from the environment, lions, hyenas, raiders, and even liberation rebels of the SPLA.
His dreams of Ethiopia were immediately shattered as he got to the Pinyudo refugee camp ... the area was desolute and unfriendly and had little if any hope. Eventually after spending 3 mths in Ethiopia, the govt got overthrown and the Ethiopian army chased the Sudanese refugees out. Men, women, boys and babies were mercilessly slaughtered. Those who did not die by their guns drowned in the Gilo river as they tried to get back to the other side...Sudan. They eventually made their way to Kenya where Deng lived as a refugee for 3 years before migrating to the United States. Deng's troubles and trials did not end when he got to the US, as he faced other challenges with each passing day.
This is an heart-rending story as it's the individual deaths of Deng's small friends, very young boys carefully described and thus remembered, that give the book its power.
Valentino Achak Deng becomes separated from his family when the murahaleen decimated his vilage. No more than maybe 8 years old at the time, Deng became a refugee in war ravaged southern Sudan and becoming one of the 'Lost Boys' of Sudan. Frightened and starving he and many other boys walked from their Dinka region in southern Sudan to Ethiopia, then Kenya. His travels brings him in constant danger and possible death from the environment, lions, hyenas, raiders, and even liberation rebels of the SPLA.
His dreams of Ethiopia were immediately shattered as he got to the Pinyudo refugee camp ... the area was desolute and unfriendly and had little if any hope. Eventually after spending 3 mths in Ethiopia, the govt got overthrown and the Ethiopian army chased the Sudanese refugees out. Men, women, boys and babies were mercilessly slaughtered. Those who did not die by their guns drowned in the Gilo river as they tried to get back to the other side...Sudan. They eventually made their way to Kenya where Deng lived as a refugee for 3 years before migrating to the United States. Deng's troubles and trials did not end when he got to the US, as he faced other challenges with each passing day.
This is an heart-rending story as it's the individual deaths of Deng's small friends, very young boys carefully described and thus remembered, that give the book its power.