Gabriel Bol Deng, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, speaks about his experiences and the civil war that devastated his country for 20 years. He will discuss how he made it and what he is doing to give back to a country struggling to survive /rebuild from the devastating civil war. He also will talk about what is happening today in Africa, South Sudan and the still troubling North Sudan; what he is doing to effect change; and what it means to us here in the U.S.
The Republic of South Sudan is now the newest country of the world and the 193rd member of the United Nations. It is a country endowed with huge natural resources ranging from wild life to oil, but still it is struggling for good governance, food, water and education. Deng will speak about the current political turmoil with Sudan stealing oil, South Sudan’s decision to shut down oil pipelines, border tensions, where the future lies with radical Islam beating on South Sudan’s doors and what role he thinks the U.S. should be playing along with the rest of the world. Deng will put South Sudan in context regarding these issues, having just returned from a two month trip. He feels education and empowering women will change the way things are in Sudan and South Sudan. He will discuss his challenges of building schools and health clinics and what is being done now to make a difference in a country that is struggling to survive/rebuild from the devastating civil war.
The Lost Boys of Sudan refers to the over 20,000 boys of the Nuer and Dinka ethnic groups who were displaced and orphaned during the second Sudnaese civil war between North and South Sudan that ended with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in 2005. It killed about 2.5 million people and millions more were displaced. Most of the boys were separated from their families when government troops and government-sponsored militias systematically attacked villages in southern Sudan, killing many of the inhabitants. Many avoided capture or death because they were away from their villages tending cattle at the cattle camps. But over half died along their epic journey, due to starvation, dehydration, sickness and disease, attacks by wild animals and enemy soldiers. Experts say they are the most badly war-traumatized children ever examined. The Foundations For The Lost Boys paid for many to go to school here in the States.
