Valentino and Dave Eggers often participate in public speaking events to share Valentino's story and educate audiences about southern Sudan. To see their speaking schedule, please see our Advocacy page.
We have also established a speakers bureau to connect Sudanese speakers with the interested public. There are many Sudanese public speakers across the country who visit groups to share their experiences and teach local communities about Sudan. Many of these speakers faced the same struggles as Valentino, but they all have their own stories to tell. Think globally, act locally: please consider inviting a Sudanese-American speaker to your school, church, civic group, or house party.
Abraham Awolich
Hometown: Kalthok, southern Sudan
Current region: Northeast U.S.
“My life story begins with me leaving my family in 1988 after government-sponsored militias attacked our village of Kalthok. I went to Ethiopia, then fled another war there and returned to Sudan. In 1992, our camps were attacked so we left on foot running. We settled in a small town east of Kapoeta, southern Sudan. When Kapoeta was overrun by the army, we were forced to flee at night. We lived as refugees in Kakuma camp for nine years before we resettled in America.”
Abraham Awolich is now co-director of the New Sudan Education Initiative (NESEI) and is committed to inspiring people—both Americans and members of the Sudanese diaspora—to get involved with development efforts. In 2006 he traveled back to Sudan for the first time in seventeen years, and the devastation convinced him that Sudan needs access to education in order to recover from decades of war. Abraham is working with NESEI to rebuild southern Sudan’s education system. NESEI seeks to give Sudanese youth the tools they need to rebuild their country and is focused on providing girls with access to secondary schooling.
As part of its efforts to build twenty schools in southern Sudan, NESEI is launching the Future Beyond Genocide Tour, a series of national speaking events. Abraham is the keynote speaker for the Future Beyond Genocide Tour and will be traveling the East Coast during 2008 to visit colleges, high schools, churches, and other organizations to spread the word about NESEI’s vision of building peace through education. gion
Engage in a conversation with Abraham about what Americans and Sudanese can do together to move toward peace – book an event with Abraham today!
Franco Majok
Hometown: Wunlang, southern Sudan
Current region: Boston, MA
My payam in southern Sudan is Wunlang, a remote village in Northern Bhar el-Ghazal. My father was a police officer who had learned the value of education after working for the British—my four brothers and I were the only children from our village to be sent to school. Three of my brothers are still alive, but my brother Garang was killed during the civil war.
I became a refugee in 1983 when the civil war broke out. All high schools were closed. The Sudanese government targeted students from the south and it became very dangerous to live there. I used my education to escape to the north by reading maps and directions to get to a safe place.
I came to the United States in September 1998. My first job was as a houseman at a hotel in Boston, then I worked in an adult residential program for the Department of Mental Retardation. In 2000, when the “Lost Boys of Sudan” began to arrive in the United States, I applied and was hired as a bilingual, bi-cultural Case Manager with Lutheran Community Services.
In 2005, I received United States citizenship and was able to travel safely back to southern Sudan. I had not been “back home” for 23 years. I made the long journey to Wunlang first by plane, then by car, and finally I bicycled for over six hours to my village. Once there, I found that some children, many malnourished and impoverished, walk two hours to attend the only school in the village. Children sit outside under trees because they don’t have a school building. The needs are great. When I returned to America, I launched a project to build a school in Wunlang.
I am now living near Boston. I am married and have three children.
Bol Tem
Hometown: Aweil, southern Sudan
Current region: Washington, D.C.
I came to the U.S. on September 23, 1998; first I lived in Texas before moving to Virginia. In 2006, I started a beauty pageant called Miss South Sudan Beauty Pageant. The reason I started a beauty pageant is that I felt our southern Sudanese women had been isolated from the rest of world and had been left in the dark. I felt a beauty pageant would introduce them to the world, bring hope, and put smiles on their faces. We had our first beauty pageant in 2006 in Washington, D.C., with thirty-two contestants from across the U.S. and Canada. The second annual Miss South Sudan Beauty Pageant was on July 14, 2007, in Kansas City. The crown went to Ayok Monydit, who is studying biology and psychology at Rockhurst University in Kansas City.
William Mou
Hometown: Aweil, Mabioranguei village, southern Sudan
Current region: Chicago, IL
Organization: Lost Boys Rebuilding Southern Sudan
William Mou is one of the Lost Boys of Sudan who has been given the opportunity of not only living in the United States, but also of becoming one of her citizens. William lives in Carol Stream with his wife, Adut, who attends ESL classes, and their two children, Deng and Alor. Employed at Excel in Elgin, William attends classes at Elgin Community College. Besides serving with the Lost Boys Rebuilding Southern Sudan, his other volunteer activities include coaching soccer, which he has done for many years, starting in Kaukuma, Kenya’s refugee camp. Singing in the choir at Elgin’s First Presbyterian Church gave William a chance to share his singing talent which he honed during his days as choirmaster in Kaukuma’s Refugee Camp. William continues to use his tender spirit and gifted voice to lead many in prayerful worship, especially whenever he speaks at churches.
Resettling to Chicago from Aweil in Southern Sudan, Samuel Anei brought his love of playing sports with him. While in Kenya’s Kaukuma Refugee Camp, Samuel was Captain of the Napata Secondary School Soccer Team and a volunteer for the Netherlands Olympic Committee. Since coming to the Chicago area, Samuel served as President of CALBOS, Chicago Area Lost Boys Association in 2005 and as Secretary of the Young Christian Association. Currently, Samuel works in Chicago and attends a community college studying business. Lost Boys Rebuilding Southern Sudan (LBRSS) is very important to him because he believes in the value of bringing secondary education to his homeland. Knowing that education is especially important in helping a culture alleviate poverty, Samuel envisions a day that Sudanese schools will not only teach literacy in math and reading, but also encourage both boys’ and girls’ participation in sports. He recently participated in the Clinton Global Initiative University Conference in New Orleans where he was given the honor of introducing President Bill Clinton.
This book by Dave Eggers tells the life story of Valentino Achak Deng, from his pre-war life in southern Sudan to his resettlement in the United States.
