Past TRR Issue
There are wars and near wars all over the globe, and none of them compare with the angst and agony of Sudan’s problematic civil issues, where families are uprooted and wholesale massacres are prevalent. From 1987 to 1990 scores of young children, mainly boys sought to flee these mass killings and were dubbed the Lost Boys. In search of refuge and peace of mind they scoured the land and lived largely on their own with a will to survive. Three such boys made it out to tell the world, and their story is chronicled in They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky, a book written with the principals along with Judy A. Bernstein, a formidable adjunct who helped made it all possible. This is a true story. A story that need to be told and worth telling.
The Lost Boys by name, Alphonsion Deng, Benson Deng, and Benjamin Ajak can triumphantly look back now and reminisce rather painfully what transpired in their journey….how and where they managed to defy all odds, and fathom the sad turmoil of losing friends and relatives along the way. Their ordeal is a reminder that wrongs must be righted and dealt with. Moreover, to them, it’s more than a quest for sympathy, but rather, a mantra for the world to stand up and take action to quell, help, and buttress those that are less fortunate in similar predicaments. Their account of that unimaginable journey is one that we should never forget, and surely should be the catalyst for alms, not arms from the world over. September 11, 2001 changed their lives forever. Many times while reading They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky, I found myself teary-eyed and mentally dishelmed. As Americans we often take for granted the silver spoon that we’re born with, never thinking how others in the world less fortunate are faring…and it’s the plight of war, starvation, and misplaced loyalties that have rendered three boys a new lease on life. But before the good, let’s first visit the bad. Benjamin, Alepho, and Benson are products of a way of life that gives new meaning to ‘community. It’s a world where tribal councils rule with traditional lore and deep spiritual fortitude. Safety within the walls of their imagined security changed the night the government-armed insurgent troops attacked their village causing chaos, consternation and calamity. Amid the confusion five-year-old Benson and seven-year-old Benjamin managed to run for their lives. Two years later with the same set of circumstances, Alepho, age seven, was forced to do the same. This situation is not exclusive only to our principals in this story, as over the next five years, thousands of other boys were subjected to this horror and sought to flee. In doing so the moniker Lost Boys seemed to not only give meaning to a cause but defined the true sense of survival.
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I had a chance to talk to the aforementioned Judy A. Bernstein, the boys’ mentor, and she gave me insight on why she felt that she had to get involved in helping to tell this story. I caught up with her just before she flew out on a promotional tour to market the book and she allowed this interview.