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).
