The Journey of the Lost Boys (2005) is a non-fiction book by Joan Hecht about The Lost Boys of Sudan. "The Lost Boys" are a group of young children who became separated from their parents due to civil war in their homeland. With little food and water and no protection from wild animals and enemy soldiers that stalked them night and day, these children banded together walking over a thousand miles across the wilds of Africa in search of safe refuge.
The Journey of the Lost Boys is a chronological timeline of the epic journey taken by these children, beginning in their rural villages of Southern Sudan and ending with their arrival as young men to the United States. Narrated through the voice of Hecht, one of their American mentors, whom they lovingly call "mom" or "Mama Joan;" it is a compelling story of courage, faith, and the sheer determination to survive by a group of young orphaned boys called "The Lost Boys of Sudan". Because of Ms.Hecht's personal relationship with the "Lost Boys", she is able to portray their story intimately. In addition to Hecht's extensive research regarding the political and historical events surrounding the civil war between the North and South, are the heart-rending personal stories, photos and drawings of the boys themselves.
The book took "first place in education" at the Promoting Outstanding Writers (POW) International Book Awards, earning Ms. Hecht the title "2005 Author of the Year".
In the summer of 2004, Ms. Hecht founded the "Alliance for the Lost Boys of Sudan" a non- profit foundation, which assists with the medical and educational needs of Lost Boys and their families living in the US and Africa.
Francis Piol Bol Bok, a Dinka tribesman and native of South Sudan, was a slave for ten years but became an abolitionist and author living in the United States. On May 15, 1986, he was captured and enslaved at the age of seven during an Arab militia raid on the village of Nyamlel in South Sudan during the Second Sudanese Civil War. Bok lived in bondage for ten years before escaping imprisonment in Kurdufan, Sudan, followed by a journey to the United States by way of Cairo, Egypt.
The Dinka people are a Nilotic ethnic group native to South Sudan with a sizable diaspora population abroad. The Dinka mostly live along the Nile, from Jonglei to Renk, in the region of Bahr el Ghazal, Upper Nile, and the Abyei Area of the Ngok Dinka in South Sudan.
Robert Young Pelton is a Canadian-American author, journalist, and documentary film director. Pelton's work usually consists of conflict reporting and interviews with military and political figures in war zones.
Lost Boys of Sudan is a documentary film by Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk about two Dinka boys from Sudan, Santino Majok Chuor and Peter Nyarol Dut, who reached the United States after fleeing the civil war in their country. "Orphaned as young boys" in the Second Sudanese Civil War they "survived lion attacks and militia gunfire to reach a refugee camp in Kenya along with thousands of other children."
The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originated in southern Sudan, the civil war spread to the Nuba mountains and the Blue Nile. It lasted for 22 years and is one of the longest civil wars on record. The war resulted in the independence of South Sudan six years after the war ended.
The Nuba people are indigenous inhabitants of central part of Sudan. Nuba are various indigenous ethnic groups who inhabit the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan state in Sudan, encompassing multiple distinct people that speak different languages which belong to at least two unrelated language families. In 2011 when Southern part of Sudan become independent State as a country with Sovereignty, Nuba is currently living in the Southern part of Sudan. Estimates of the Nuba population vary widely; the Sudanese government estimated that they numbered 2.07 million in 2003.
Emmanuel Jal is a South Sudanese-Canadian artist, actor, former child soldier, and political activist. His autobiography, War Child: A Child Soldier's Story, was published in 2009.
The Lost Boys of Sudan refers to a group of over 20,000 boys of the Nuer and Dinka ethnic groups who were displaced or orphaned during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1987–2005). Two million were killed and others were severely affected by the conflict. The term was used by healthcare workers in the refugee camps and may have been derived from the children's story of Peter Pan. The term also was used to refer to children who fled the post-independence violence in South Sudan in 2011–2013.
Sudanese literature consists of both oral as well as written works of fiction and nonfiction that were created during the cultural history of today's Republic of the Sudan. This includes the territory of what was once Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, the independent country's history since 1956 as well as its changing geographical scope in the 21st century.
The Toposa are an ethnic group in South Sudan, living in the Greater Kapoeta region of the erstwhile Eastern Equatoria state. They have traditionally lived by herding cattle, sheep and goats, and in the past were involved in the ivory trade. They have a tradition of constant low-level warfare, usually cattle raids, against their neighbors.
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.
Joan Hecht is an American humanitarian and award winning author of the book The Journey of the Lost Boys. She is also the founder and President of the 501 c-3 non-profit Alliance for the Lost Boys of Sudan, an organization that assists with the health and educational needs of Lost Boys and their families living in the United States and Africa. Hecht formerly traveled as a back-up singer for The Johnny Van Zant Band and began recording professionally at age 14. However, she is best known for her work related to the Lost Boys of Sudan, including engaging in public speaking on their behalf and that of the people of South Sudan, as well as writing an award winning book about them titled, "The Journey of the Lost Boys".
John Dau, also known as Dhieu-Deng Leek is a human rights activist from South Sudan. He is one of the Lost Boys of Sudan who was featured in the 2006 award-winning documentary God Grew Tired of Us. In 2007, he founded the John Dau Foundation aiming to transform the health system in South Sudan.
The Alliance for the Lost Boys of Sudan is a 501 C-3 all-volunteer foundation in Jacksonville, Florida, established in 2004, to meet the health and educational needs of Lost Boys and their siblings living in Africa and the United States.
Water for South Sudan is a not-for-profit US 501(c)(3) corporation founded in 2003 whose mission, according to their website, is to "deliver sustainable quality-of-life services to the people of South Sudan by efficiently providing access to clean, safe water, and improving hygiene and sanitation practices in areas of great need." The goal of Water for South Sudan is to water the seeds of change in South Sudan by drilling wells, delivering hygiene education, and providing sanitation services.
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.
A Long Walk to Water is a short novel written by Linda Sue Park and published in 2010. It blends 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 organization, Water for South Sudan.
South Sudanese Americans are an ethnic group of Americans of South Sudanese ancestry, or South Sudanese people who have American citizenship. South Sudanese Americans can include American descendants to South Sudanese ancestors or South Sudanese immigrants who obtained an American citizenship.
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.
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