Deerfield students meet 'Lost Boy of Sudan'

Details: Written/Submitted by External Source; Category: South Sudan & African News From Various Sources; Published: 16 May 2016; Hits: 2154

Seventh grade students at Caruso Middle School recently had one of their classroom lessons brought to life when John Dau, author of "Lost Boy, Lost Girl: Escaping Civil War in Sudan," visited the Deerfield ^[1] school.

Dau, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan who now devotes his life to providing health care to people in South Sudan, had lunch with a group of Caruso seventh graders and spoke to others at the school on May 13.

The students learned how Dau and two others—Maketh Mabior and Peter Magai Bul—fled their homeland fearing for their lives, walked more than 1,000 miles from Sudan to Ethiopia, lived in refugee camps and eventually got to the United States, according to Dau.

"I didn't learn A, B, C and 1, 2, 3 until I was 17," Dau said.

He said he earned a liberal arts and public policy degree from Syracuse University ^[2] 20 years later. His foundation now provides medical care to residents of South Sudan."We have doctors treating people in South Sudan," Dau said. "We have helped over 150,000 people. We've had over 600 doctors come to help. We've treated over 109,000 families with malnutrition."Students at Caruso and Shepard middle schools have been learning about the Lost Boys of Sudan as part of their seventh grade curriculum for the last five years. They also worked to create fundraising projects, according to Jenn Gold, a social studies teacher at Caruso.Mabior and Bul have been regular visitors to the schools telling students about the school they established in South Sudan, according to Cathy Kedjidjian, the Deerfield Public Schools District 109 coordinator of communications and community relations. She said this was Dau's first visit.Dau's story was inspirational to seventh grader Jake Kanter, but actually meeting the author made everything more real."It's bizarre because I learned about this in fifth grade but meeting him makes it special," Kanter said after sharing a slice of pizza with Dau. "It's surreal getting to interact with him and hearing about his experiences."Other students recognized the advantages they have in Deerfield and after hearing about the men's lives said they plan to work harder for what they want for themselves. One of those is Jack Murphy, a Caruso seventh grade student."It's amazing what he's done and what he's become," Murphy said. "It's going to make me work much harder. If he can come through all that, I know I can achieve what I want most if I work hard enough for it." Dau said he tried to motivate people to put in a strong effort to achieve their goals when he speaks to groups."Every day you should ask yourself what you have done to show you have helped others," Dau said. "Did you do something to make a difference? Did you make an impression on someone to get them to help others?"Hope Leman, another Caruso seventh grader, said she got that message and wants to help refugees around the world."It opened up my world view," Leman said. "It really helped me to see things differently. I want to help refugees whatever their situations."Before arriving at Caruso, Dau, Mabior and Bul spent the morning at Shepard talking to students there, according to Shepard seventh grade social studies teacher Tom Samorian.Samorian said the Shepard students got to hear the three men talk about their lives and ask questions. The students also raised $1,743.33 by raffling eight gift baskets to help the men's efforts, he said.Dau said the money will make a difference in the lives of others.Steve Sadin is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.