Courageous Journey, Walking the Lost Boys Path from the Sudan to America

My most serious book came out in September 2008, Courageous Journey, Walking the Lost Boys Path from the Sudan to America. My co-authors and the subjects of the story are Ayuel Leek Deng and Beny Ngor Chol.

This narrative non-fiction book is set in the context of the civil war in Sudan, which ended in 2005. Ayuel and Beny tell their own experiences fleeing their burned villages and making their exodus along with thousands of other displaced children who had lost their families.

They walked for months across barren land, menaced by starvation, disease, wild animals, and shrapnel from helicopter fire. The story follows the evolution of their thinking from revenge to peaceful solutions as they spend fourteen years in refugee camps. The Arab Islamic government of Sudan wished to impose their strict sharia laws on the black Christian andAnimist south and claim the newly    discovered oil reserves.

News coverage has been sketchy of this conflict—which preceded the present Darfur crisis. During a 20-year period, the war took the lives of over two million southern Sudanese. Thousands more were tortured, displaced or sold into slavery. The two heroes of the story, Ayuel Leek and Beny Ngor, now enrolled in U. S. colleges, are working diligently to set up a non-profit organization to help improve conditions for the people still living in Sudan and to support the refugees—especially other Lost Boys and Girls—in the United States.

This human-interest story coupled with the timeliness of many issues facing the world today—terrorism by radical Islamic groups, ethnic hatred, religious conflict, control of limited oil reserves, immigration problems, and reference to the 9/11 attack on the United States make this a fascinating read. Click here www.sudanfaces.wordpress.com to learn more about the book and the now separate country of South Sudan.

This 330-page, hardcover book from New Horizon Press is available now at the pre-publication price of $16.47 on Amazon.com. (regular price $24.95).

Olympics – China – Genocide

The Olympics are over and I’m left with the same ambiguous emotions I’ve had since being in Olympia, Greece, for the lighting of the flame that  multiple runners carried around the world. I sat in that ancient stadium and heard the leaders of Greece and China speak in their native languages while their national flags rose behind them. Jacques Rogge, Chairman of the International Olympic Committee, spoke in English, even though he is from Belgium. The Olympia flag rose. I watched the first runner sprint across the ancient tract. What a thrill!

Only one incident gave me pause. During the speech by the head of China’s Communist Party and Chairman of the Olympics in Beijing, one sole protester held up a FREE TIBET sign. He was quickly whisked away and the program continued. As the torch made it’s way around the world, huge protests and demonstrations against China’s poor human rights record, cruelty against Tibetan monks, and China’s support of the oppressive regime of President al-Bashir’s in Sudan followed.

Therein lies my dilemma. China put on a spectacular show. The athletic events were riveting. The documentaries about the Great Wall and the Forbidden City mixed with modern restaurants and foot rubs were highly entertaining. But I also knew about the torture of political prisoners, the lack of even minimal freedoms, extreme poverty, etc. lurking behind the grand façade.

How does one process these extremes and reconcile these two realities?

One World, One Dream

Two individuals still stand out in my mind. One, a Chinese young man, wearing the red “One World, One Dream” tee-shirt. He was with a large group of similarly-attired young people (athletes?) in front of the Press Office in Olympia on March 25, for the flame lighting. An equal number of Greek young people faced them in their blue and white tee-shirts with the message printed in Greek. Both groups held small flags of both countries. I watched the two groups come together, shaking hands or hugging. Words were not necessary. Harmony personified. I wrapped my arm around this young Chinese and my friend took our picture. I won’t publish it, but here’s the back of the tee-shirt. He then took a picture of the two of us. We smiled at each other and parted.

The other individual I saw only on TV: Lopez Lomong—a member of the U.S. Olympic team and now a U.S. citizen—carrying the American flag in the opening ceremony in Beijing. As one of the Lost Boys of Sudan he is president and co-founder of a different sort of team: Team Darfur. The organization is an international coalition of athletes committed to raising awareness about and bringing an end to the genocide in Darfur, Sudan.

Lopez Lomong has learned to reconcile these two realities about China.