Dear Friends-
On January 26, we saw the documentary “God Grew TIred of Us,” (www.godgrewtiredofus.com), which tells the stories of 3 men who survived challenges that are unimaginable to most of us in the West. Several years ago, we also saw the documentary “The Lost Boys of Sudan,” on the same subject, and found ourselves asking, “What can we do?”
What we found so inspiring about “God Grew Tired of Us” is that each of the men featured—John, Panther, and Daniel—despite their own difficulties, never really stopped to ask “What can we do?”. Instead, they immediately identified what they could do, and they did it, with resources far less than any of us have.
This is ONE way that we can do something. We have set up an online page to fundraise for John Bul Dau’s social change projects, which are based both in Sudan and among the “lost boys” in the U.S. We’re kicking off this fundraising effort with a contribution. Julie will be donating 10% of profits from her business, Polished: Exceptional Professional Writing Services, to this fund. We invite you to contribute at any level—even $1.00-you can break your contribution up into monthly installments- and we encourage you to see this film. If it’s not in a theatre near you, it’s available online. Also, John Bul Dau recently wrote a memoir with the assistance of Michael Sweeney. That book is also titled “God Grew Tired of Us.” Other books recently published by or about the “lost boys” include the book “What is the What.”
Below, please find a description of the situation in Sudan that led to the mass refugee exodus of the lost boys… and the lost girls, about whom far less information and experience has been documented.
Thank you for your support!
In the late 1980s over 25,000 children (mostly boys) were forced by violence from their homes in southern Sudan on a journey that led them first to Ethiopia and then several years later to a refugee camp in Kenya. In 2001, a group of almost 4,000 of these Lost Boys of Sudan were brought to the United States leaving behind thousands of others in the refugee camp.
Join Direct Change in supporting this project that will provide direct financial support to organizations in Uganda and Kenya to provide education and job training to the Lost Boys that remained in Africa.
Julie & Francisco Collazo
novoarte@onebox.com
