Unforgettable.

One Day I Had to Run

My Village in Sudan

Painting by Bor Alier, aged 17, Sudanese, Kakuma refugee camp. 

"In my village in Sudan, people would come and take photographs of us and ask about our terrible life. We would tell them how we had lost our cattle, how we needed help. Then they would go away. Again and again. We thought they would help. Then one day we had to run. We had nothing. Nobody came back to help. Don't ask me about my problems. You will just go away too."

Credit: One Day We Had to Run!: Refugee Children tell Their Stories in Words and Paintings
(Evans Brothers Limited, London). Courtesy of UNHCR. Used with permission.

There are five more paintings in this series.

I recommend reading Dave Eggers' novel What Is The What based on the life story of Valentino Achak Deng, founder of the Valentino Achak Deng Foundation.

The Lost Boys of Sudan changing the World

I got to see this documentary "Rebuilding Hope" about the Lost Boys of Sudan on August 1st, at a San Francisco screening hosted by the San Francisco Bay Area Safe Darfur Coalition. I cried through most of the film. Here's the trailer:



Following the screening I got to meet one of the co-founders of New Scholars, Garang Akau, a former Sudanese refugee and a Stanford grad. Check out the great stuff that New Scholars is doing:



I have been talking a lot about the Lost Boys of Sudan, the film, and New Scholars. So I was excited to see that the Commonwealth Club is planning to hold an event honoring John Bul Dau, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, who will receive INFORUM's 21st Century Visionary Award for opening the world’s eyes to the Sudanese health-care crisis. The event has been postponed, so watch the Commonwealth Club calendar for more info.

John was featured in this documentary, which I have not yet seen, "God Grew Tired of Us." Here's the trailer: