8ELO What is the (What) Truth? class research

Then 10 years old, Ariath was considered an elder among the boys who fled, so he was put in charge of 250 others younger than him.

“I had them hold hands as we walked in a long line through tall grass, forests and darkness so they would not get lost,” he wrote in an essay. “It was a nightmare. As we walked, we often heard gunfire and daily boys would die from dehydration, starvation and disease. When we stopped to rest, we often left dead bodies there.”

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.

Since 1983, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) and the Sudanese Government have been at war in southern Sudan. The conflict has already claimed more than 500,000 lives and displaced huge numbers of people. Among these were at least 20,000 children, mostly boys, between 7 and 17 years of age who were separated from their families. These 'lost boys' of the Sudan trekked enormous distances over a vast unforgiving wilderness, seeking refuge from the fighting. Hungry, frightened and weakened by sleeplessness and disease, they crossed from the Sudan into Ethiopia and back, with many dying along the way. The survivors are now in camps in Kenya, the Sudan and Uganda.

Others set out for refugee camps in Ethiopia. Some travelled with friends or relatives, others slipped away on their own at night. Few had any idea of what lay ahead of them. They believed the trek would last only a few days and discovered that they faced a harrowing journey of 6 to 10 weeks. Continually under threat, they would flee for their lives, losing their way in the wilderness. Often they lost everything en route—blankets, sheets, shoes, clothes and pots—to soldiers, swindlers or bandits. Many fell victim to killer 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 animals.

Since 1992, UNICEF has managed to reunite nearly 1,200 boys with their families. But approximately 17,000 remain in camps in the region. The harsh memories remain as well. As 14-year-old Simon Majok puts it: "We were suffering because of war. Some have been killed. Some have died because of hunger and disease. We children of the Sudan, we were not lucky."

“When the pain in James’ legs became too much to bear, one of the older boys would pick him up…when he had gone days without water, he sucked liquid from the mud, when he was so weak from hunger, he ate leaves and berries.

South Sudan

The south’s departure did not put an end to conflicts. There were many unresolved issues, and Sudan and South Sudan soon began squabbling bitterly over how to demarcate the border and share oil profits. (The conundrum of the two Sudans is that both countries are extremely dependent on oil, but while the export pipelines run through the north, the bulk of the crude oil lies in the landlocked south.)