“I never lost hope. You must never lose sight of your goals and you must never, ever give up.”
- John Bul Dau

Since writing the book and starring in the 2006 award-winning movie, “God Grew Tired of Us: The Lost Boys of Sudan,” John Bul Dau has traveled throughout the United States spreading his first-hand story of struggle, education and success.

Last Wednesday, he shared his story with University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee students as they listened intently in the Union Ballroom. Dau explained his gruesome path through the 24-year-old war in Sudan, which continues to this day.

Dau, now 33, grew up in the war-torn country of Sudan and witnessed the atrocities of the Arab Sudanese government. Dau was on the run from the militia for much of his life in Sudan.

The religious war in Sudan has trudged on and off again since the first century, delivering the Christian south into the merciless hands of the Muslim northern militia, Dau explained.

“I never lost hope,” said Dau. “You must never lose sight of your goals and you must never, ever give up.”

At age 13, Dau helped his father keep cattle, grow crops, and lived a happy life with his family. Dau did not think the war would ever reach his village; he was wrong.

In 1987, Dau awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of gun shots and whistling bullets. He and his brothers scrambled through darkness, trying to answer their mother’s cries.

When he got outside, Dau saw a line of troops heading toward his house. His neighbor pulled him to the ground, insisting he remain quiet.

In the morning, Dau and his neighbor began traveling to Ethiopia. For days they ate and drank nothing. Along the way, other boys and men joined their march, only to be killed by northern Sudanese militias or to starve from lack of food.

Dau reached Ethiopia after a month of traveling, all the while eating nothing but roots, wild plants and mud, chewing on grass, drinking his own urine and walking naked. Once he arrived there, Dau was put in charge of 1,200 boys between the ages of five and 15.

Everyday, he witnessed children die from malaria, measles, whooping cough and chicken pox. Every night, he dug shallow graves for the bodies, only to awake to them exposed or partially eaten by hyenas and lions.

“The younger boys were always crying, yelling for their mothers,” Dau said. “The older boys tried to help but the ones who didn’t listen went crazy.”

After three years, things started getting better, but once again a rebel base overthrew Ethiopia and the 27,000 people that remained were forced to leave within seven days.

“We came to a river that separated Ethiopia from Sudan but didn’t know how to cross it because it was full of crocodiles and some people didn’t know how to swim,” said Dau. “After several days we were forced to cross from them shooting us…some drowned, were eaten, shot…on the other side we only had 18,000 people.”

They were given food and clothes for nine months by the United Nations Commission for Refugees but were later forced to flee by northern Sudanese aircraft.

Finally, in 1992, 12,000 people made it to Kenya, where Dau, 17 by then, first encountered a clinic, a doctor, a library, and school. At the age of 27, Dau finished high school in 2000, and was invited, along with others, by Americans to come to the United States.

After working at McDonald’s, UPS and as a security guard, Dau received his Associates Degree from a community college in 2004 and has been creating Sudanese foundations all around the United States including the Sudanese Lost Boy Foundation in New York and American Care for Sudan.

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