Spring Break
'Lost Boy' shares his journey
Ed Komenda
Issue date: 11/14/07 Section: News
The numbers in the group of lost boys eventually grew to nearly 27,000 upon reaching an Ethiopian refugee camp. According to Dau, the government was not prepared for such an enormous influx of people, and diseases such as chicken pox, malaria, measles and whooping cough swept through the country.
"I was in charge of one group of 50 refugees, and I remember seeing two or three lost boys dying every day from my group." Dau said.
Despite these tribulations, after four years in Ethiopia, life seemed to get better. He finally had some food and water.
But once again, the rebel army from northern Sudan began to attack and were successful in overthrowing the Ethiopian government.
"The new government gave us seven days and they said, 'leave our country very quickly,'" Dau said. "We had to go back to southern Sudan because there wasn't any other way."
The journey that followed the lost boys' stay in Ethiopia saw even more deaths due to an attempt to cross a river filled with crocodiles on the border of Sudan. Dau said the group was forced across the river by the rebel government, and many of the boys were shot and killed, drowned or captured.
By the time the group crossed the river, there were only 18,000 left of the original 27,000 lost boys. They found themselves struggling to survive again, with bare necessities nowhere in sight.
The lost boys were previously given clothes by the United Nations when they resided in Ethiopia, but when they resided in Ethiopia, but they were forced to sell them for food. According to Dau, the lost boys pushed on until they found themselves in Kenya.
"Kenya was a new chapter," he said. "This is where I started to go to school and learned my ABCs and 123s."
Dau said he was 17 when he began the first grade, and he finally finished high school at 27. Dau found life was good in Kenya and school was even better.
"The smell of the new books was excellent," Dau said. "I still remember it smelling good right now."
"I was in charge of one group of 50 refugees, and I remember seeing two or three lost boys dying every day from my group." Dau said.
Despite these tribulations, after four years in Ethiopia, life seemed to get better. He finally had some food and water.
But once again, the rebel army from northern Sudan began to attack and were successful in overthrowing the Ethiopian government.
"The new government gave us seven days and they said, 'leave our country very quickly,'" Dau said. "We had to go back to southern Sudan because there wasn't any other way."
The journey that followed the lost boys' stay in Ethiopia saw even more deaths due to an attempt to cross a river filled with crocodiles on the border of Sudan. Dau said the group was forced across the river by the rebel government, and many of the boys were shot and killed, drowned or captured.
By the time the group crossed the river, there were only 18,000 left of the original 27,000 lost boys. They found themselves struggling to survive again, with bare necessities nowhere in sight.
The lost boys were previously given clothes by the United Nations when they resided in Ethiopia, but when they resided in Ethiopia, but they were forced to sell them for food. According to Dau, the lost boys pushed on until they found themselves in Kenya.
"Kenya was a new chapter," he said. "This is where I started to go to school and learned my ABCs and 123s."
Dau said he was 17 when he began the first grade, and he finally finished high school at 27. Dau found life was good in Kenya and school was even better.
"The smell of the new books was excellent," Dau said. "I still remember it smelling good right now."
Be the first to comment on this story