Group items tagged

Some of the girls are beaten, raped, or sold off to older men who pay a bridal fee of between five and 50 cows to the foster family.

So why are the girls facing hardship in Kakuma while the boys are living out the American dream?

Where Are the "Lost Girls"?

In 2001, intolerable living conditions in the refugee camp gave the United States government reason to resettle some 4,000 of these now young men in America.

He was 3 when he fled civil war in Sudan and walked hundreds of miles on foot through the hot desert plains to the refugee camp.

Yet, despite their name, the Lost Boys are remarkable in that many found their way to safety despite encountering unimaginable horrors.

In 1999, the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees and the U.S. State Department referred about 3,800 children and young adults to the United States for permanent resettlement. Those under 18 were placed with foster families from Fargo, N.D., to Phoenix, Ariz.

autonomy

Southern Sudanese

ealized that the central government intended to divide the Southern government, centralize power, and Arabize and Islamize the entire country.

A notable quality among the refugees is their extraordinary ability to cope with chronic adversity and trauma even though some suffer from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

continue

esettlement experiences based on whether they were minors or adults. Minors had to adjust (and some who are still minors continue to adjust) to American schools and living in American foster families, having lived mostly in peer groups prior to resettlement.

26,000 other displaced

overthrown by rebels.

Three years ago, the United States government agreed to allow 3,600 of them to begin new lives in America.

I don't worry now that if I sleep that people are going to shoot me," says 19-year-old Abraham Maker, who arrived in the US in 2001 along with thousands of others.

Abraham has been luckier than other lost boys, many of whom have had difficulty adjusting to life in America.

 An estimated two million people have died and four million have been made refugees in the eighteen year old civil war in Sudan.

hey remained in camps in Ethiopia until a newly-elected government expelled them in 1991, and they were forced to return to Sudan.

Last year, the United States offered to resettle 3,600 of these "lost boys."

By 1969 the rebels had developed foreign contacts to obtain weapons and supplies. Israel, for example, trained Anya Nya recruits and shipped weapons via Ethiopia and Uganda to the rebels.

"In our culture, women are being dominated. Not just in Sudan, but in all of Africa. Maybe people don't think we did much, because they see us as followers of the 'Lost Boys'." "But the fact remains ladies were there."

the U.S. refugee Resettlement Program welcomed a new group of refugees that was unique in many respects

many boys left their villages for refugee camps in Ethiopia. Some traveled with friends or relatives, others slipped away on their own at night. Few had any idea of what lay ahead of them, believing that their journey would last only a few days. Continually under threat, they fled for their lives, losing their way in the wilderness. They lost everything en route to soldiers, swindlers, or bandits. Many fell victim to lethal diseases. Others were so weakened by hunger and lack of sleep that they could go no further and sat down by the roadside, prey for lions and other wild animals.

n 1983, civil war broke out between the northern Arabic-speaking government of Sudan and southern tribes seeking autonomy. Since then, nearly two million people have died and five million have been displaced. Among those displaced are at least 20,000 children, mostly boys, between 7 and 17 years of age who were separated from their families.