In reading this article about the Lost Boys of the Sudan, I can’t wrap my mind around their plight and tragedies. To say they lost everything is not an exaggeration. They lost their home, their families, their culture----they lost their world. However, the one thing they didn’t lose was their will to carry on.
They traveled on foot through their war ravaged country to have to endure Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. Here they survived living as refugees. After a decade, some were resettled in the United States. Even though this would seem the path to a chance at a different life, these boys were leaving what was left of their identity and culture. They came to a strange and very different life. Their challenges were not over, just changing.
Now they were safe, but faced the new, overwhelming task of trying to integrate with American culture while keeping their traditions alive. One way they attempted to do this was by “transforming” their custom of oral storytelling. In the past, these stories were told to “teach beliefs, history, traditions, values and beliefs.” They were stories passed on orally by members within their community. In their new home, The Lost Boys kept the practice of story-telling alive, but changed it in several important ways. The stories obviously were now told and shared with people outside of their community. Having learned to read and write, these stories could be written down as well as told. They used these stories to tell others about their experiences and to “call others to act” to help their country. Through these stories, these young men were able to share their experiences and grow in their literacy and communication skills which helped empower them and connect with their new world. It is said best in the words of one of the lost boys (from a video on YouTube entitled “Jonglei Cultural Center 0006):
JongleiCultureCenter — April 03, 2009 — So much has happened to us in the South Sudan and particularly those of us called the "Lost Boys," that in order to for us to preserve our identity we must build communal experiences through storytelling, the education of the community and the visual expression of our past. This provides communal and morale support through sharing experiences of refugee life, maintaining open lines of communication, and no less important, facilitating of the resettlement of communities of Lost Boys. These ongoing connections are at the heart of what art means to the refugees of the South Sudan.
This is a powerful example of how literacy and the motivation and need to learn literacy can be a tool for positive change.
Susan Hines
Comments (5)
As I read the words spoken about the Refugee camps and the many things that the “Lost Boys” had to experience I got cold chills. Knowing the life we live and the trials we think we face on a daily basis is really not anything like those these boys encountered. As I wrote in my blog about the article, I did not take the time to write about the “Lost Boys,” but the importance of listening to someone tell a story instead of reading it. Anyone can go and read about the “Lost Boys” and feel for those children and what they experienced, but how much more would a person feel if they could sit down and talk to one of these boys and see the emotions in their eyes and body language. I love sitting and listening to others tell about their lives and I feel more connect with the person, then when I go and read about someone’s life. I can’t imagine what life would be like to be one of these “Lost Boys,” but I know that I am grateful they are no longer living without. You did a great job!
Meredith
Posted by Meredith Bromley | June 13, 2010 7:43 PM
Posted on June 13, 2010 19:43
Like Meredith said, I did not write about the hardships and emotional/physical battles the boys of Sudan faced. Clearly, they endured so much and never gave up. This says a lot about them and a lot about who they are and where they came from. One of the boys talked about how important it was for them to learn to read and write because they knew this was very going to help make them successful because they saw all of the successful men around them that they wanted to be one day! Meredith - you are right when you said that anyone could read about the boys, but how much more could someone be affected if they were to actually sit and listen to "their story".
Katy Dellinger
Posted by Katy Dellinger | June 14, 2010 9:14 PM
Posted on June 14, 2010 21:14
I can't imagine going through what those boys went through. All they had was their stories. They realized that their stories had to be told so that the world would know what had happened. Thank goodness for their will to carry on and for the people that were placed in their lives that helped them carry on. They turned a bad situation into a somewhat of a positive one by sharing their stories and causing change.
Posted by Michelle Moffitt | June 15, 2010 8:35 AM
Posted on June 15, 2010 08:35
Susan,
You're right, the Lost Boys went through such a struggle. It's very heartwarming that they didn't give up and have tried to make the very best of themselves. I was very impressed that the boys in this study went to college and are trying to make "normal" lives for themsevles. It's so good that they are still carrying on "storytelling," just through print instead of orally. It would be easy to just shut out that part of their lives, but they feel the need to educate the world.
~Jamie Brackett
Posted by Jamie Brackett | June 15, 2010 5:51 PM
Posted on June 15, 2010 17:51
Everything changes even storytelling and literacy. The “Lost Boys” knew that they wanted to hold on to the tradition of passing so they changed it from just passing on the stories orally to passing them on through written expression. They also started to pass the stories on to other people. I think the stories help them to remember where they came from and what they had been through. This is a very inspiring and heart warming story of how against all odds these boys found success through storytelling.
Posted by Ashley Caldwell | June 15, 2010 6:20 PM
Posted on June 15, 2010 18:20