The Dinka people are a Nilotic ethnic group which is native to South Sudan, but there is also a sizable diaspora population. The Dinka mostly live along the Nile, from Bor to Renk, in the region of Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile (two out of three Provinces which were formerly located in Southern Sudan and the Abyei Area of the Ngok Dinka in South Sudan.
John Garang de Mabior was a Sudanese politician and revolutionary leader. From 1983 to 2005, he led the Sudan People's Liberation Army during the Second Sudanese Civil War, and following a peace agreement he briefly served as First Vice President of Sudan for 3 weeks until his death in a helicopter crash on 30 July 2005. A developmental economist by profession, Garang was a major influence on the movement that led to the foundation of South Sudan.
The Lost Boys of Sudan was the name given to a group of over 20,000 boys of the Nuer and Dinka ethnic groups. These boys were displaced or orphaned during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1987–2005) in which about 2 million were killed and others were severely affected. The name "Lost Boys of Sudan" was colloquially used by aid workers in the refugee camps where the boys resided in Africa. Many believe the term was initially derived from the children's story of Peter Pan. The term was revived, as children fled the post-independence violence of South Sudan with Sudan during 2011–13.
Alephonsion Deng is a South Sudanese author and speaker. He is best known as the co-author of the book They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys of Sudan, along with his brother Benson, cousin Benjamin and American author Judy A. Bernstein.
Shadow Divers is a non-fictional book by Robert Kurson recounting of the discovery of a World War II German U-boat 60 miles (97 km) off the coast of New Jersey, United States in 1991.
Jon J Muth is an American comics artist and children's book illustrator who is known for his painted artwork.
What Is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng is a 2006 novel written by Dave Eggers. It is based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng, a Sudanese child refugee who immigrated to the United States under the Lost Boys of Sudan program. It was a finalist for the National Book Award.
John Dau, also known as Dhieu-Deng Leek, is one of the Lost Boys of Sudan who was featured in the 2006 award-winning documentary God Grew Tired of Us. Today, he is a father himself and a human rights activist for the people of South Sudan. In 2007, he founded the John Dau Foundation which aims to transform healthcare in South Sudan.
The Insurgency in Ogaden was an armed conflict that took place from 1994 to 2018. It was fought by separatists, the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF), against the Ethiopian government. The war began in 1994, when the ONLF attempted to recreate Greater Somalia by unifying Ethiopia's Somali Region with Somalia. It ended in a peace agreement as part of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's reforms.
Itang is a town in the Gambela Region in western Ethiopia. Within Gambela, Itang belongs to Itang woreda which forms a special woreda. Located on the Baro River, this town has a latitude and longitude of 08°12′N34°16′E with an elevation of 480 meters above sea level.
They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys of Sudan (2005) is a book co-authored with Judy A. Bernstein. It's the autobiographical story of brothers Benson Deng and Alephonsion Deng, and their cousin Benjamin Ajak. It describes their ordeal during the Second Sudanese Civil War as they flee as refugees across Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya before they make it to a refugee camp in Kenya. There they sign up to take part in the Lost Boys of Sudan program and resettle in America.
Will Hobbs is the author of twenty novels for upper elementary, middle school and young adult readers, as well as two picture book stories. Hobbs credits his sense of audience to his fourteen years of teaching reading and English in southwest Colorado. When he turned to writing, he set his stories mostly in wild places he knew from firsthand experience. Hobbs has said he wants to “take young people into the outdoors and engage their sense of wonder.” Bearstone, his second novel, gained national attention when it took the place of Where the Red Fern Grows as the unabridged novel in Prentice-Hall’s 7th grade literature anthology. Downriver and Far North were selected by the American Library Association for its list of the 100 Best Young Adult Books of the 20th century. As of 2020, all twenty-two of Hobbs’ books are in print, and all the novels are available in unabridged audio editions.
Panther Garang Bior is one of the 27,000 Lost Boys of Sudan. His journey was featured in the National Geographic Society's 2006 award-winning documentary, God Grew Tired of Us.
The culture of South Sudan encompasses the religions, languages, ethnic groups, foods, and other traditions of peoples of the modern state of South Sudan, as well as of the inhabitants of the historical regions of southern Sudan.
Taban Deng Gai is a South Sudanese politician who has been one of the Vice Presidents of South Sudan in the unity government since February 2020. He served as the First Vice President of South Sudan from 23 July 2016 to February 2020. He was mining minister before being appointed as acting first vice president.
A Long Walk to Water is a short novel written by Linda Sue Park and published in 2010. It includes the true story of Salva Dut whose story is based in 1985, a part of the Dinka tribe and a Sudanese Lost Boy, and the fictional story of Nya whose story is based in 2008, a young village girl that was a part of the Nuer tribe. Park used this book as a platform to support Dut's program, Water for South Sudan.
Daniel James Brown is an American author of narrative nonfiction books.
Mary Luana Williams is an American social activist and author who wrote The Lost Daughter: A Memoir about her life. The memoir details being adopted by Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden in her adolescence, as well as growing up as a daughter of Black Panthers before Fonda adopted her. She works with Sudanese refugees through the organization she founded, the Lost Boys Foundation.
Deng Thiak Adut is a defence lawyer and refugee advocate in Western Sydney, Australia, and a former child soldier from South Sudan. His story is told in a popular short video by Western Sydney University, where he earned his law degree. He was named the 2017 New South Wales Australian of the Year.
Judith A. Bernstein is an American author. She is known for co-authoring the book, They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys of Sudan, 2005, with Sudanese brothers Alephonsion Deng and Benson Deng, and their cousin Benjamin Ajak. She co-authored a follow-up book titled, Disturbed in Their Nests, 2018 that continues the narrative from the first book with Alephonsion Deng.
