LOST BOY: Student returns to homeland in Sudan
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besides his family waiting for
him, he also found cattle. Cattle,
as Amol explained, is used to
greet people in happiness, as a
welcome present.
"It is used to celebrate and feast
with our families and community,"
said Amol. "I didn't want to come
back when it was time to leave.
My family was crying."
Amol's experience as a Lost Boy
has been one that he will never
forget, he said.
He recalled: "My job was to look
after the goats and the cows when
I was still living at home and one
evening our village was attacked
and many of us weren't with our
parents and so we just had to run
away to save ourselves," said
Amol.
Many escaped with just the
clothes on their back, while others
managed to gather a few of their
belongings, according to Amol.
And like Amol, many ran without
their parents with them because
it was risky to go home and find
them. But, several people at least
had relatives to get support from
during the escape.
For food, there were some people
who had hunting experience, so
they killed small animals and
cooked them over an open fire
that the runaways created. They
also gathered food from villages
they passed by. One of life's most
essential foods, water, ran out
very soon.
But they all had to be careful
to remain out of sight from any
attackers wandering their route.
"The elders decided that it
was best to walk long distances
overnight because it was cooler,
and then seven in the morning we
looked for places with big trees
Dor Amol (far left) with his uncle's family on his father's side
to sleep," stated Amol. "We sat
down during the day as a group to
also protect kids," he added.
The escape took 27 days by foot.
Their destination was Ethiopia
because it was the closest border
they had access to in distance.
"We were led by some people
who already went there before,"
Amol said.
The group started out with just
100 people, but by the time they
reached Ethiopia, there were
probably close to 10,000 people
from different tribes. But many
had also died because of the
conditions they were living in.
"We all spoke to each other in
Arabic because it was the only
language we all knew," said
Amol. There were also different
dialects that everyone spoke to
those from their own village."
Upon their arrival to Ethiopia,
the United Nations began to help.
The Red Cross used letters to
track parents of missing family
members to let them know of
their whereabouts and wellbeing.
Amol learned that his family was
OK. After living there for five
years, he moved to Kenya with
the support of the International
Organization of Migration that
helped him to attend school until
10'h grade.
"lOM decided to help and
where to settle us and the United
States then decided to keep us for
education and better life," Amol
said.
Still, he was unable to visit his
parents because of all that was
going on in finding a place for
him to settle. But he was able to
stay in contact by telephone.
Several years later, in 2000, he
was called to Mississippi through
a charity that provided Amol,
who was then 17 years old, and
The city of Kaya at the border of Sudan and Uganda.
other Lost Boys the opportunity
to live with a temporary family.
He has only nice things to say for
this opportunity.
"I am very grateful to the United
States government for doing a nice
thing for me by supporting me to
live here when I first came," said
Amol. "I've been through a lot in
my life," he added.
There are many differences
between Africa and the United
States.
"We are able to have a better
education or better life [here]
and there was insecurities and
shootings there at night," Amol
explained. "There is not much
entertainment here and most of
the hospitals and clinics were too
far away, too."
Upon being welcomed to the US,
Amol and other Lost Boys were
trained in working and learned
how to speak English as a second
language to help them with their
lives in the states, said Amol. He
also learned English when he
schooled in Kenya.
Amol attended a community
college in Mississippi and two
years later moved to Harrisburg,
Pa because he has a lot of relatives
here. Soon after, he began
attending Penn State Harrisburg
because it was the closest to his
home and was already familiar
with it having a cousin graduate
from here as well. He wishes to
attain his bachelor's degree in
accounting. He hopes to be done
soon since he only needs 33 more
credits to graduate.
This semester, however, he had
to withdraw from classes because
of his May trip to Sudan after 21
years to visit his family. Because
of some trouble with paperwork
in coming back to the United
States, he was a month late in
arriving and decided that it would
be best to work his night job
Photo courtesy of DOR AMOL
fidltime and resume with classes
next semester.
Amol has big goals for his
future.
He explains: "I just hope for my
life to continue. I didn't achieve
[my] goal yet of graduating, s( ,
school is my goal and to finish
my degree and get a job, either
over here, or in Sudan. I want to
help people in Africa. There is a
lot of people who live tough lives
there. I would like to help people
as a government agent or help in
schools. I've been there and have
seen what they need and they
really need a lot of help like better
highways, roads and houses.
His hobbies include playing
soccer, which he has limited time
for because of work and school.
He also played in the campuses
intramural volleyball team.
Additionally, Amol likes to watch
basketball and football.