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Sudanese "Lost Boys" Become "Seeds of Sudan" for Change
CWS Board of Directors Chair Betty Voskuil (left) and CWS Executive Director John L. McCullough (right) meet with John Dau.
Photo: Carol Fouke-Mpoyo
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Former Sudanese "Lost Boy" John Dau and Rev. Craig Lindsey, pastor of the church that helped Dau resettle in Syracuse, New York, in 2001, each describes how blessed he has been by the other.
Then both quickly turn the conversation to the needs of people in southern Sudan, who are struggling to recover after 22 years of civil war, and to their remarkable collaboration to build the first medical clinics ever in Dau's home Duk County.
"The 'Lost Boys' have received so much from the American people," Dau says. "How can we show our appreciation? By giving something to the people who really need it the most ... our people back there.
"South Sudan has no active war now," he continues. "The war we are fighting is a war of poverty and development. There are no roads, no schools, no communication systems. Everything was destroyed. And where I live, there has never been a medical clinic since God created the world."
Within weeks now, after years of planning and fund raising, Duk County's first clinic will be constructed and staffed.
Dau was among the 25,000 so-called "Lost Boys and Girls" who in 1987 fled slaughter in Sudan. Many died during the group's five-year trek before reaching the relative safety of Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. In 2001, about 4,000 of these unaccompanied children and youths were accepted by the U.S. Refugee Program for resettlement through nine national voluntary agencies, including Church World Service.
CWS received Dau and several hundred other "Lost Boys and Girls," enlisting local resettlement affiliates and congregational cosponsors to meet the new arrivals' needs and help them become self-sufficient in their new communities.
 John Dau addresses participants in the CWS/IRP 2007 National Conference and guests from the Dallas-Fort Worth community following a screening of “God Grew Tired of Us,” in which he and two other former “Lost Boys” from the Sudan are featured. Photo: Carol Fouke-Mpoyo
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Dau attended a special screening of the new documentary "God Grew Tired of Us" (www.godgrewtiredofus.com) at the CWS Immigration and Refugee Program 2007 National Conference, in Dallas, Texas this January. The film features Dau and two other "Lost Boys" who relocated to the United States. Lindsey was reached by telephone at First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles, New York.
Dau recalled the kindness of the Skaneateles congregation, which co-sponsored him and three other Sudanese young men. Working closely with the Refugee Resettlement Program of InterFaith Works of Central New York in Syracuse, members furnished an apartment for the foursome and covered the first three months' rent. They welcomed the new arrivals and showed them everything from how to use the vacuum cleaner to paying bills, buying groceries, using the library, and finding work.
Church members took turns inviting the men into their homes and families on Sundays. Before long, Dau and his compatriots Andrew, Jacob, and Santino knew all 600 members of First Presbyterian Church. They also learned to drive, got jobs, and enrolled in community college.
"This has been a great gift to our members to see how much they can do personally in relationships," Lindsey said.
He remarked that congregants have been impressed and challenged by Sudanese culture, which insists that "if you earn something it's not yours, it belongs to the whole community. These men work minimum wage jobs and still send $10,000 to $15,000 a year to Africa."
Dau explained that in his Dinka culture, "if you can help, you have to do it. We have a cultural obligation to help each other. Here in America we can't just eat our own hamburgers and say, 'I am fine, I have money in the bank,' knowing people back there barely have anything to eat. That's why we work two or three jobs and send money back.
"Most 'Lost Boys' carry the Christian value, 'I was a stranger and you took me in, naked and you clothed me.' At home, when you saw someone looking around, you gave him something to eat. We Dinka believe that in so doing, you may help an angel. Our cultural and Christian values are together. That is how we survive."
Knowing this, Lindsey was not surprised when Dau came to him in 2004 and said, "The war in southern Sudan is ending. We want to create a clinic. Could the church partner with us?"
Dau recruited a lawyer, engineer, contractors, and builders to create the America Cares for Sudan Foundation, which the church helped get incorporated as a not-for-profit organization. To date the foundation has raised $230,000 toward a $350,000 goal. (For more information, contact the First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles, 97 East Genesee Street, Skaneateles, NY 13152).
Meanwhile, David Bowman of Grand Rapids, Michigan, another cosponsor of Sudanese refugees, offered valuable advice from his own experience shipping hospital supplies to Werkok, Sudan. The key, Lindsey recounted: "Don't start with planning and budgeting, contracts and calendars. In Africa, nothing really happens until you meet, worship together, and share a meal. Only then can you begin to discuss possibilities and build upon trust."
Lindsey took Bowman's advice when he visited Dau's home village in April 2005 to lay the groundwork for the clinic. Soon a 12-member volunteer team from First Presbyterian Church will go to Sudan to construct the clinic.
Lindsey no longer uses the term "Lost Boys," preferring "Seeds of Sudan," a name he said the group was given while still at Kakuma. "They are now 30-year-old men. Besides, they were never lost to God," Lindsey affirmed. Indeed, they have been scattered across the earth, but are undertaking now to rebuild their beloved country.
By Carol Fouke-Mpoyo
See also: Special Film Screening Also Affords Opportunity for Reunions
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