Sudan has been in a civil war for the last 50 years. The Dinka Tribe has been affected the most, about 2 million people killed and 27,000 going through forced migration. The tribe fled after their home was attacked. The Lost Boys of Sudan walked across the capricious desert with no food or water. Many of them died of starvation and dehydration. Some of them were killed by animal attacks, and some of them were shot. They stayed for a while in Ethiopia, after crossing the Gilo River, where they lost a lot of people. Some of them drowned, some were attacked by crocodiles, some were shot. They were forced to cross the river again after the Ethiopian government kicked them out. They then fled to Kenya, where they survived in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. But by then, the number of boys had greatly reduced, a lot of them died on the horrendous journey. The boys had lost everything they had, and some of them never see their parents again.
"Everything they tell you about America, all lies"
After Peter arrives in Houston, Texas, with a few of his friends, he realizes that life there was going to be hard for him. He realizes that he is not going to get an education like he was promised, and he would have to work hard for food. He did not get the things that he was looking for in Houston and he decides to move to Kansas and try his luck there. He faced many difficulties in America and was far off from the heaven he was promised.
One difficulty that he faced was the language and culture of America. He wasn't fluent in english and it was hard for him to understand what the Americans were saying. He also experienced a culture shock because the culture in America is a lot different than the culture in Sudan. He was told by his family and friends that he should never forget the culture of Sudan. But he would have to adapt to the American culture to survive. Peter adapted very quickly, he ate lunch with his co-workers to experience American culture and the language. He stopped his shows of affection to his friends of the same gender, and he started to speak english to his Sudanese friends. Peter made many new friends in his new school in Kansas, attends an American party, and even develops an interest for a girl to fit in the new, alien country he is put into.
Another difficulty that Peter faced racism. He was a different color than the white Americans, and darker than the African-Americans. The racist people assumed that he was a bad person just because he's black. They assumed that Peter would rob or steal from them, or beat them up. Peter found this very disrespectful, as he was not interested to do any of those bad things.
An example of this is at his new school in Kansas, his ESL teacher asked him a question that is extremely insensitive: "What would you do if you had a million dollars?". Peter has come from a refugee camp, he owns nothing at all and finds trouble affording food. The teacher did not think of his background when asking the outrageous question. Peter's counselor also assumed that he was stupid and lazy because he is black. The counselor suggest that he spends two more years in community college before going to college. The counselor assumes that Peter was dumb and didn't even bother checking his grades. Peter proves him wrong, he has good grades and is in the honor students group. He already wrote his biography and is already prepared for the test which will determine if he goes to college or not. The couselor was very shocked and shows his insensitivity when he refuses to read Peter's biography because it is too 'sad'. Peter was also showed racism at his part-time job at walmart. His manager makes him work in the sun because he came from Africa. His manager thinks that the African employees can stand the heat because it is hot and dry in Africa. This is extremely disrespectful to Peter. He thinks that he shouldn't be forced to work in the sun just because he can stand it. But Peter overcomes all of he racism that he faced. He works hard in school and at work. He can deal with the racism because he is determined to get an education. He willingly accepts that he is poor compared to his American friends, but he does not give up because of that.
The last barrier Peter faced was his lack of money and time. At Houston, he can only afford a cheap, low-cost living environment, and the security is very bad. A few robbers find out that they some blacks moved in and they probably don't have a bank account to store their money in, so all their money will be kept in the house. Every pay-day, the robbers would stick a gun in their face, robbing them of the little money that they had. In Kansas, Peter strives hard for an education and it takes a lot of time. His part-time job at Walmart is a time-consuming and minimun wage job but he can't get a better job because he doesn't have an education yet. He can barely earn enough money for himself yet he still wants to help his family back in Kakuma. His sister gets mad at him on the phone because he hasn't sent any money back to help them. He promises to send back money as soon as possible, because he has realized his mistake. He had forgotten that he was supposed to help his family when he got to America.
Peter Nyarol Dut is a very courageous boy. He steps into an alien land, facing cultural shock, racism and financial problems. But he is determined and works hard, everyday, giving the best he got. It all finally pays off, when he graduates from high school in June 2003, and got a full scholarship to Green Mountain College in Vermont.
Intersting Info:
Santino has left his factory night shift in Texas and moved to San Jose, California. He is enrolled into a full-time community college course with a scholarship from one of the movie's viewers. He successfully passed his drivers test and got a license to drive. Santino heard from his siblings that he lost track of when escaping. He is now paying for his brother and his family to move back into their home. He has travelled to New York, Los Angeles, Indianopolis, San Francisco and Dallas for media interviews, school screenings and panel discussions.
Peter is happliy playing basketball again and has participated in meetings with the Congessional Refugee and Human Rights Caucuses, the State Department's Bureau of Population, Migration and Refugees, the Kansas state board of education and CARE.
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