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The majority of the boys belonged to the Dinka or Nuer tribes, and most were then between the ages of 8 and 18. (Most of the boys don't know for sure how old they are; aid workers assigned them approximate ages after they arrived in 1992.) As Red Cross and United Nations relief workers scrambled to find shelter for them, the boys -- which is how they all, regardless of age, refer to one another -- described an almost unfathomable journey.

described the Lost Boys, whom he met several times during their itinerant years, as ''among the most badly war-traumatized children ever examined.''

repatriation

becoming the largest resettled group of unaccompanied refugee children in history.

one new arrival scream and run in fear at the sight of an escalator

Given the magnitude of these kids' adjustment, it was hard not to wonder how it would all work out.

The words describing America had piled up without real meaning: freedom, democracy, a safe place, a land with food enough for everyone

he combination of war, famine and disease in southern Sudan has killed more than two million people and displaced another four million

They're going from an environment where you've basically been given everything at the camp to an environment where you have to work, you have to produce,'' says Steve Redding, who directs the Kenya and southern Sudan programs of International Rescue Committee. ''It's a huge leap

''It's a hard life here,'' Sunday whispered to the older boy, ''but it's a free life too.''

espite their numbers, the lost boys tell stories that are remarkably similar and uniformly disturbing.

While they can be strikingly unemotional describing the horrors of their pasts, they nonetheless seem eager for Americans to appreciate the plight of their country. Predictably, those who had been in the United States a month or more were the most comfortable reflecting on what they had been through, while newer arrivals often seemed overwhelmed

as many as 74 percent of the boys survived shelling or air bombardment, 85 percent saw someone die from starvation, 92 percent said they were shot at and 97 percent witnessed a killing.

Terry Walsh, vice president for a refugee program run by Catholic Social Services in Lansing, Mich. ''For most refugees, education is important. But I've never met a group more dedicated to it. Education has always been the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.''

According to psychologists who work with war victims, refugee children who have finally reached a safe and stable environment are often confronted with long-suppressed feelings of fear, guilt and grief over what they have been through.

Arguably, whether their parents are living or not, most of the Lost Boys have no choice but to move on

Five weeks after his arrival, he was finding life in America to be hard -- harder than anyone had told him it would be

Without an American host family or church organization to help buffer the expenses, the three brothers seemed to grow more despondent with each passing week.

The first three months are always the toughest. It really does get better

''When someone first comes to this country as a refugee,'' he says, ''there's a euphoria of starting anew. But when that starts to wear off, a lot of problems can surface.''

This is a stove burner. this is a can opener. This is a brush for your teeth. The new things came in a tumble. The brothers' home was a sparsely furnished two-bedroom apartment in the basement of a sterile-looking complex on Fargo's south side, for which they would pay $445 a month. It had been stocked by a resettlement agency employee, primarily with donations from area churches and businesses, and the randomness reflected as much: there were two bundt pans, six tubes of toothpaste and no towels or cutting knives. Nonetheless, it was a good start. A loaf of white bread sat on the counter alongside a bunch of ripe bananas. There were cans of beans, a jumbo box of Corn Flakes, tea bags, a modest collection of mismatched dishes and a gallon of whole milk in the refrigerator.

im. Each boy then took a turn at the sink, awkwardly shoving the faucet handle to and fro.

And so began an opening spree. We opened a bag of potato chips. We opened a can of beans and untwisted the tie on the bagged loaf of bread. We unwrapped some I Can't Believe It's Not Butter and dropped a pat to sizzle in a hot pan on the stove. We cracked eggs, each boy taking his turn, erupting into paroxysms of laughter as the shell shattered in his grasp. After the eggs were scrambled and the food laid out, Peter, Maduk and Riak sat down and ate, chewing loudly, not saying a word until most of it was gone.

Hornbacher's, a standard-issue Midwestern grocery store, proved to be full of wonders. The electric doors. The grocery carts. The riotous rows of brightly packaged food and the ample-bodied white people who filled their carts with whatever they wished to buy. With the eyes of nearly every shopper in the store on them, the boys wandered tentatively through the produce section, looking but not touching, until Riak discovered a bin of green mangoes, which triggered a round of excited Dinka chatter. As we made our way through the store, they recognized nothing else except a bag of rice, but each new aisle seemed to embolden them, and soon they were moving as a meticulous three-man inspection team, studying labels, squeezing boxes and quietly pronouncing the names of everything from Special K to Velveeta.

The next aisle over, Peter touched my shoulder. He was holding a can of Purina dog food. ''Excuse me, Sara, but can you tell me what this is?'' Behind him, the pet food was stacked practically floor to ceiling. ''Um, that's food for our dogs,'' I answered, cringing at what that must sound like to a man who had spent the last eight years eating porridge. ''Ah, I see,'' Peter said, replacing the can on the shelf and appearing satisfied. He pushed his grocery cart a few more steps and then turned again to face me, looking quizzical. ''Tell me,'' he said, ''what is the work of dogs in this country?''

Hungry, frightened and weakened by sleeplessness and disease, they made their way to camps in Sudan, where they received help from the International Committee of the Red Cross. From there, they then traveled on foot to safety in northern Kenya. Since 1992, UNICEF has been able to reunite nearly 1,200 boys with their families. But thousands more have remained in the dusty, fly-ridden refugee camp at Kakuma, where they have had to scrape for food and struggle for education.

he does not know his exact age,

Malual said his older brother shook him awake one day and told him to run.

Malual’s gr

oup was the first to settle in that area

Every 14 days, each boy received 15 kilograms of maize flour, some cooking oil and one cup of beans,

Sharing was what kept us together, pushed us together,

If I didn’t receive my ration one day, my friend would call me when it was time to eat.”

Malual, then a teenager, found a job. Although the large bulk of his salary went toward rent for an apartment he almost never saw, Malual took on extra hours and began to save money

You’re going to go home,’” Malual said. “And they gave me a ticket. I was so happy; I couldn’t believe it.”

‘Is this the wrong family?’”

His brother, who had been the one to tell Malual to run as a child, had remained in the village.

‘When I told you to run, I didn’t mean to run forever

he described America as his second home and said he couldn’t imagine leaving it.

The unlucky ones, those judged to be above 18, were too old for high school and so had to go to work. As they had no qualifications they were forced to take menial, low-paying jobs.

"America wasn't paradise and it wasn't as easy as they told you in the camps," says Samuel, who has done the rounds of menial jobs: he's been a security guard and is now a bagger, someone who puts shoppers' groceries in their bags at supermarkets.

 Grouped in threes or fours, the Sudanese young men, now in their late teens and twenties, are being resettled in sites in the US where expertise and special services are provided for these refugees refugees who have been deprived of their childhood and family life. In addition to expert case workers, sponsoring churches make an invaluable contribution to the adjustment of the refugees.

Starting in the late 1980s, thousands of Sudanese boys trekked to Ethiopia to flee the war. T

The three very gaunt and thinly clad young men arrived in the snow of a northern winter to a warm reception from Andrews Memorial UMC, James Street UMC, and the Church World Service (CWS) staff

foundation on which they can rebuild their lives: an apartment, furnishings, clothing, kindly guidance and friendship, accompaniment to appointments, help in learning to cook for themselves, shop, and prepare for job interviews.

United Methodist Churches

adapt to a new culture and become a part of the community.

the church arranged for Samuel to attend Nottingham High School,

with 1,000 to 3,000 girls.

Since September, more than 100 such refugees have settled in Western Washington. More are expected to arrive by the summer's end.

Adults struggled to become economically independent, working long hours at low-paying jobs and struggling to find time and money to go to school.

Still, the refugees send as much money to Africa as possible to help those who were left behind

“He is like one of our adult children,” he said. “Both of his parents are deceased, and we try to fill in as best we can as his American parents.

“In the beginning his needs were great – health issues, learning to take care of basic needs, learning to drive a car, etc. Now, he has become very independent. We have shared his sadness such as when his mother died in 2003.

Sudan) and a refugee camp in Kenya. However, he is resolute to return to Sudan after getting h

However, he is resolute to return to Sudan after g

an) and a refugee camp in Kenya. However, he is resolute to return to

n) and a re

The MSU study noted that refugee camp experiences had significant positive and negative influences on the refugees’ adjustment in the United States. For instance, having suffered through hardship, they recognized the special opportunity they had coming to the United States to pursue an education and employment, according to Luster.