Wol Akujang was among the more than 20,000 "Lost Boys" who were displaced or orphaned during Sudan's civil war. He left his village of Pap at the age of six and spent time in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya before being relocated to the United States. He settled in the state of Arizona and graduated from the University of Arizona with an undergraduate degree in public health.
He is returning to South Sudan this week after having voted in Arizona in South Sudan's historic referendum for independence. North and South Sudan signed a peace agreement in 2005 that provided for the referendum. Akujang returned to South Sudan that year, discovering that his father had died from cholera, but his mother, older brother and younger sister were well. He has been financially supporting another brother through school in Kenya. AllAfrica's Cindy Shiner interviewed Akujang ahead of his departure for South Sudan where he will work in public health. His answers have been edited into a narrative. AllAfrica will be following his story.
Leaving Home
The village was isolated from Khartoum. There was no electricity; there was no technology around. It was all and everything that we knew - I wouldn't say 'good' but it was normal for me. It was very exciting for us.
I wanted to be like the adults in the village. Life was farming mostly. We took care of cattle at a very young age, helping my dad when we were growing crops, going out to cultivate seeds to make sure they grew when the rainy season came.
AllAfrica SPOTLIGHT: Referendum in Sudan
In 1989, after six years of war, a lot of parents were concerned, especially for those who were not going to be able to run as fast if there was an emergency situation. We weren't running away from any gunfire. Some villages were attacked, ours wasn't. It was just out of fear that the [north Sudanese soldiers] were going to come.
They were definitely going to come.
My older brother was old enough to run if he needed to and my younger sister was really too young. I was in the middle. My parents didn't want to separate the family but they didn't have a choice. In case of an emergency I wasn't able to run or to run for a long time. That would be an extra burden on the family. I think they were sending me out for protection.
I don't remember the specific date - but I can describe what that day was like. There were at least 300 young children plus about 20 or so adults who were going to show us how to get to Ethiopia where parents knew there was a refugee camp.
It was chaotic. But the fact that there were other children my age kind of made it seem normal to me. There were a couple of kids – we grew up together. A lot of parents came over and there were goodbyes. A lot of kids were crying. They didn't want to leave. But at the same time my parents knew this was the best decision for me and for the whole family. We left in the evening around five o'clock.
I was on my own.
It was hard, really hard. The first night when we left I definitely missed my mom because normally they would be talking and when you call they cover you up and you sleep. There was none of that. We walked all night and I missed the family a lot, very much the first day. And then the next day you realize the reality of what we were getting into.
Refugee Camps
We were in Ethiopia from 1989 to 1991. That was when the government of Ethiopia was overthrown and the next government didn't want any South Sudanese in Ethiopia so they told everyone to go back to South Sudan. We didn't have any choice. I think it was around late April to May that we were back in South Sudan and we had to cross a desert to the border between Kenya and Sudan. From April to the end of 1991 we spent that whole time in South Sudan. To cross the desert we were transported by these big lorries that the Red Cross provided. That wasn't too bad at all. There was food; there was water. The very young had to take the lorries and the adults walked.
I was very excited for the fact that we were not going to be afraid of the government of northern Sudan bombing us close to the border of Kenya. The two days before [northern soldiers] were a couple of hours away from us trying to get to us because they knew there was a great number of refugees there. We had to leave immediately.
In Kenya I was very excited because it was a different country and I wanted to see what it was. There was a lot of curiosity to find out what this country was like and what kind of people were there. Before I didn't even know what Africa was or any other continent.
Life was tough [in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya]. There was not a lot of security. Sometimes there were attacks from the local tribes, individual attacks, not against the whole village. If someone went somewhere by themselves they would get attacked and killed by local tribes but if you were with a group you were fine.
There was some period when there was no food. There was this distribution of food when you would get a ration and we would get a certain amount for two weeks. Sometimes it wouldn't be enough and we would run out in five days or within the week and you basically had to spread it out. We ate once a day most of the time. There was a lot of struggle, there was not enough health care, so we struggled a lot with nutritional diseases. I remember being very weak.
An Education
It was tough, but school was very exciting. There were a couple of times in Kakuma when I was the number one in my class from fourth grade to fifth grade to sixth grade so that gave me motivation to really work hard in school. It was really good and when we took the primary exam, which is a national exam in Kenya, I did real well. I got like a 93. I was very happy and that motivated me a lot to continue with school.
That's basically academically where I became aware of what my future would be. I grew up by myself. I didn't have a lot of role models like doctors and engineers and other things. When school started we started learning about all of these professions and what I could become. Knowing what I could do in the future I could define myself. To this day I don't understand what my life could have been if I didn't come out of my village. Defining myself by going to school means I can really find something that I can do to have an impact on my society and help my future.
Voting
It means a lot. It meant for the first time I felt like I had something to say about my future, I had something to say about what the future of South Sudan or Sudan as a whole would look like. In the past decisions were made by northern Sudanese and southerners were just there, they were not real citizens of the country. Separation was not my first choice but we were forced to do this because the north was not willing to change.
I feel excited because we are going to be independent and that independence means we can think freely. I can think about my future and know that I can have a 10-year plan without fear that our political process will be interrupted by the northern government and all other forces that were limiting South Sudanese from thinking about their futures and their dreams.
[Voting] was exciting. It was the first time that I've seen a lot of Sudanese very excited, really. A lot of people showed up. It was beyond belief that we could even reach this stage, because the north relies so much on us for resources and oil. This day comes because of so many things that went well for us – the fight, the attention the international community gave us. And I think the north will not be as aggressive as it would be if the international community was not really paying attention to what is going on there.
Returning to South Sudan
I never thought I would see this moment, especially when I was in the refugee camp. We knew it was a tough fight – a lot of people had sacrificed their life, a lot of young men. We were so young they couldn't even think of taking us to fight the northern military. If I was old enough I would definitely have gone to be in the army. We remember the young men that went to war they were singing songs about the future of South Sudan and how they were willing to sacrifice to have their freedom. Now I feel like they were singing about this moment and how they wanted me to realize the dreams of my future and become a free person in my own country.
I'm very excited about the moment. I'm looking forward to it. I'm hoping that when I get there the excitement will not be interrupted by any kinds of agitation from the north or any kinds of going back to war or anything like that. I went back in 2005 and now I think there is a lot of improvements the government of the south has done. They have done some work and it is improving a lot and I hope that continues and there is no going back to war.
In Sudan there is a great opportunity for me because my background is in general biology with a minor in chemistry. I'd like some day to do something in public health and medicine. I'm going back to South Sudan because there is an opportunity there to work with the ministry of health where I will work with an evaluation team. What they will do is see what is being done and how things can be improved, which is really what I want to do.
I think the greatest challenge at this time is to improve the infrastructure in the South because the infrastructure will lead to development. Definitely infrastructure and security are the two big challenges that will allow development to go through or impede it. There are a lot of organizations that are ready to help but if the infrastructure is not there nothing will get done.
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Personal Challenge
I think personally for me the challenge will be to really discover the system but at the same time not look at it as somebody who has lived outside of Sudan – really understand it from the perspective of South Sudanese and what we need to do. Sometimes I think I'm South Sudanese and know everything - but not really, because I've been living out of the country for 10 years or so. I really need to learn different ways of looking at things and make sure I understand what is going on without any biases coming from what I know from school or in the media or reading or something like that. So I think the challenge is being able to avoid any biases that I have and see things as they are and try to make sense of what I see.
I think I'm naturally patient so I'll look at things and see and try to be patient. I get frustrated sometimes too if I don't see the result of what I'm doing as having an impact immediately. I have to teach myself to know that results can take a long time and many other things take time.
I'm going back to Sudan because I have this desire to really help in the future and take advantage of the opportunity that is given to me here by being in the U.S. and by having the opportunity to be here to go to school and realize a dream. Not many people in South Sudan have this opportunity. I want to go back, experience exactly what is needed and how people there are trying to meet all these challenges and what kind of questions they are asking, what kind of questions will arise while I'm there. I feel like being here I cannot experience that. I can read it, but by going there and doing it myself I feel like I can have a real sense and maybe when I come back to go to grad school I can look for those answers after having a real experience. My undergrad degree I didn't have a lot of experience before, but this time in grad school I really want to know exactly what I need to do to get to the next level. That next level would involve what can I do to really improve the lives of people in South Sudan.
Actually, it's the only payback to the people who have helped me along the way, including the American government, the American people, who have given me the opportunity to come here. It's the only way I can say 'thank you', because if I can go back and help the people of South Sudan, it will be the opportunity for me to show people that me being here was not a wasted opportunity.
