Compassion Education
Reach Out to Refugees

Abraham's Story - My Journey from Sudan to America
by Abraham Chol Kuany
 

My name is Abraham Chol Kuany (pronounced Kwine). I was born in South Sudan, Africa in a rural village called Wernyol. There was no electricity, running water, telephones, automobiles or grocery stores in my village. We lived a simple life and had almost no connection with the outside world.

I thought the people in my village were the only people in the entire world. If we wanted to travel somewhere, we had to go there by foot, even to get our drinking water or to take a bath in the nearby river we had to walk many miles. It gets really dark at night in southern Sudan and the only light that we had was the light of the fire that my parents built outside of our Luak (house). We used the same fire for cooking and to keep us warm. When I was a little boy, my mother told me that fire was my enemy. She told me to stay away from the fire, because it was dangerous and it could hurt me really bad.

One night while we were sleeping we heard noises outside our house. My father gathered his spears and ran out of the house quickly. My mother grabbed a long wooden stick and ran out behind him. I wanted to go too, but my mother told me that I must stay inside where it was safe. Later on, I asked her what had happened and she told me that there was a lion near our village and they had to kill it. She told me that the lion was my greatest enemy and that I must always fear and avoid the lion.

When I was around 8 years old, I was playing in a field with my brothers and sisters and we heard gun shots coming from our village. Everyone was running in different directions and we became separated from our parents. We thought that we would return to our village the next day. We didn’t realize that the war had come to our village and that we would not be going back there for a very long time. On that day, I learned that people were my greatest enemy.

The civil war between north and south Sudan lasted over 20 years. Over two million people died and 30,000 children became separated from their parents. I was one of those children. We walked over a thousand miles, through 3 countries, living in refugee camps (places that provide shelter to displaced people during war time). We had very little food, water or medicine. A lot of children in the camps didn’t make it. I lived in refugee camps in Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya for 14 years without my parents. Workers in the camps called us The Lost Boys of Sudan, after the fictional characters in the movie, Peter Pan. But our story was not make-believe, it really happened. 

In 2001, the United States government allowed 3800 Lost Boys to resettle in the United States. I was among those selected and was sent to Jacksonville, Florida with approximately 84 other Lost Boys. I was excited to come to America, because I knew I could receive an education.  I was 19 years old. I was the first Lost Boy in Jacksonville to pass the GED and enroll in college.

Learning English was a big obstacle for me and I still struggle with that sometimes. Not only is English difficult to learn, but slang words and the different meanings of words sometimes confuse me. For instance, some of our American friends told us that they were taking us to the zoo and that it was a really "cool" place. We thought they meant that it was cold there, so we wore warm clothing, but it was summer and we were very hot! They should have told us that we weren’t wearing the right clothing.

When we arrived in America, we had to support ourselves and get jobs for the first time in our lives, but we had very little education and no job skills, so it was really hard. I was working two jobs to support myself, as well as my relatives and friends that I left behind in the refugee camps in Africa.

I also had to study for school, but I didn’t have much time to focus on my assignments. I think that the people who helped me with my studies and with my English, probably helped me the most to acclimate to my new life in America.

For the first few months, the resettlement agencies that brought us here and people from various churches helped us with different things like getting food, jobs, transportation and things like that. But gradually those people began to disappear and we still needed a lot of help.

In 2004, a non-profit called Alliance for the Lost Boys of Sudan was founded to assist with our health and educational needs. It’s an all-volunteer foundation made up of caring people who have helped us in many ways. I received a college scholarship and money for my books through the Alliance.

In 2008, I received my Bachelors of Science degree in Biology/Public Health from the University of North Florida. I work in a local hospital and it’s my goal to become a doctor and return to South Sudan to help my people.

I also help raise money for numerous projects in South Sudan that are sponsored by the Alliance. We recently raised money to drill a water well and to start a goat program for women at risk and their children in Wernyol. We also paid for the construction of an X-ray clinic at a hospital where I may work one day and we built a house and donated 30 beds to an orphanage. We’re giving back in many different ways, not only in South Sudan, but also in our communities here in America. 

Before I came to America, I thought that people were my worst enemies, but now I know that people can really make a difference in someone’s life, because the American people have made such a tremendous difference in mine.

Abraham’s story is a true story. Abraham was reunited with his parents in 2009.

Young readers can learn more about the "Lost Boys" in Mary Williams’ book “Brothers in Hope:  The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan.” Facilitators can read our Author Interview with Mary Williams.

High school students and adults also can read more about Abraham and the “Lost Boys” that journeyed to Jacksonville, FL in the book “The Journey of the Lost Boys”, by Joan Hecht.

Click on Alliance for the Lost Boys and learn how your club can help refugees from Sudan at The Alliance for the Lost Boys of Sudan.