SUDAN ACTIVIST AND SUPPORT SOURCES

BOOK: KAKUMA-TURKANA, Dueling Struggles: Africa's Forgotten Peoples, by Daniel Cheng Yang. Documentary on Kakuma Refugee Camp, the Lost Boys of Sudan and the indigenous Turkana, with a Foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

SAVE DARFUR, the Save Darfur Coalition is an alliance of over 100 faith-based, humanitarian and human rights organizations whose mission is to raise public awareness and to mobilize an effective unified response to the atrocities that threaten the lives of two million people in the Darfur region. See Unity Statement

CHILDREN'S THEATRE COMPANY: LOST BOYS OF SUDAN, A.I. Josh, T-Mac Sam and K-Gar Ollie all meet in the worst way: fleeing the horrors of war. And as they team up on a perilous journey to a refugee camp, they exchange heroic survival stories, song and even laughter. Thus begins an extraordinary passage that eventually takes three boys of the Dinka tribe to Fargo, North Dakota.

INTERNATIONAL RESCUE COMMITTEE (IRC): SUDANESE EDUCATION FUND, non-profit organization committed to helping Sudanese Refugees who have resettled in the Greater Boston area to access educational opportunities. To date, more than 135 Sudanese have received grants. In the 2004-2005 school year, SEF gave out more than $110,000 for books, tuition and computers.

AFRICAN REFUGEE ARTISTS CLUB (ARAC), group of refugees with a variety of art experiences and skills. They formed ARAC as a way to organize their efforts in telling their stories of life as refugees for the benefit of society through their art. In July 2006, ARAC hosted a 30-day workshop at Kakuma Refugee Camp in northern Kenya.

DOCUMENTARY: LOST BOYS OF SUDAN, documentary film by Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk. The film aired on PBS and continues to be shown locally (see Web site for locations and times). It traces the lives of two Dinka from Sudan who joined the Lost Boys.

PBS, POV (Point of View): LOST BOYS OF SUDAN, programming surrounding the airing of the documentary LOST BOYS OF SUDAN (above).

CBS NEWS, 60 MINUTES: SUDAN'S 'LOST BOYS' TO US HOMES (6 Nov 2000), orphans of a civil war and refugees for most of their lives, thousands of Sudan's "Lost Boys" are coming to homes in the United States.

CBS NEWS, 60 MINUTES II: THE LOST BOYS (1 Jan. 2003), follow-up documentary to first story (60 Minutes, 6 Nov 2000), tracing the Lost Boys. "When the invaders struck, many of the boys here were tending their herds. When they saw their villages burning, they started walking."

BBC, MODERN SLAVERY SERIES: SUDAN'S SLAVE VOICES (March 2007), some 8000 people are believed to be living as slaves in Sudan after being seized by Arab militias during the long war between north and south. The war is now over and some ex-slaves have returned home. But most are finding life tough back in the devastated south. Former captives tell of their ordeals and how they are trying to rebuild their lives.

BBC, MODERN SLAVERY SERIES: FORGOTTEN SLAVES (March 2007), South Sudanese await the return of their stolen children. Akech Arol Deng has not seen his wife and son since they were seized by Arab militias from their home in south Sudan 19 years ago. His son, Deng, was just three years old at the time, but Mr. Arol is sure they are still alive, being used as slaves in the north.

BBC: SUDAN'S "LOST BOYS" IN AMERICA (August 2004), by Leslie Goffe, BBC New York. Orphaned youngsters, they fled their villages in Sudan in the 1980s, afraid they would be slaughtered as many of their families were by government troops. The lost boys - so called because they had to fend for themselves without parents or elders - set out on an extraordinary journey across Africa that took them to Ethiopia, back to Sudan and to refugee camps in Kenya.

AMERICAN SCHOLAR: EDUCATION IS MY MOTHER AND MY FATHER, by David Chanoff. How the Lost Boys of Sudan escaped the destruction of their ancient culture and landed in the 21st century.

THE LOST BOYS OF SUDAN: THE HIDDEN HOLOCAUST, edited by Atem Aleu. A collection of poetry and exhibition written and illustrated by Sudanese refugees.

DOCUMENTARY: GOD GREW TIRED OF US, winner of both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, God Grew Tired of Us explores the indomitable spirit of three �Lost Boys� from the Sudan who leave their homeland, triumph over seemingly insurmountable adversities, and move to America. Orphaned by a tumultuous civil war, John Bul Dau, Daniel Abol Pach, and Panther Blor were among the 25,000 �Lost Boys� who traveled together for five years across the sub-Saharan desert to reach UN�s refugee camps in Kakuma, Kenya. A journey�s end for some, it was only the beginning for John, Daniel, and Panther, who, along with 3,800 other young survivors, were selected to resettle in the United States. From the trans-Atlantic flights that take them to America, to a supermarket visit where they encounter an endless bounty of food, the cameras observe three resilient young men in a complex and confusing western world. In time, John, Daniel, and Panther were able to build active and fulfilling new lives while remaining deeply committed to helping their friends and family left behind in Africa.

PBS, FRONTLINE: CHAD/SUDAN, A QUESTION OF GENOCIDE (16 Sep 2004), by Amy Costello. The central African nation of Sudan has 50,000 fewer people now than it had about 18 months ago. Attacking planes and marauding militia have killed them all. The ethnic Arab nomads, known as Janjaweed, ride on horseback and camel. They target black farmers, killing the men, raping the women, burning crops and ransacking modest homes. Senator John Kerry has called the ethnic slaughter "genocide," and just this month the Bush administration agreed. But neither Bush nor Kerry is willing to commit U.S. troops to stop the bloodshed.

REFUGEE AND HUMAN RIGHTS SOURCES

UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES (UNHCR), administers services to the world's 40 million+ refugees and internally-displaced persons. Search its Web site for information on South Sudan, Darfur and surrounding refuge camps, including Kakuma.

CENTER FOR HOLOCAUST AND GENOCIDE STUDIES, University of Minnesota

UNITED NATIONS CHILDREN'S FUND (UNICEF): LOST BOYS OF SUDAN

REFUGEE COUNCIL USA, a coalition of U.S. non-governmental organizations focused on refugee protection. Refugee Council USA provides focused advocacy on issues affecting the protection and rights of refugees, asylum seekers, displaced persons, victims of trafficking and victims of torture in the United States and across the world.

CENTER FOR THE VICTIMS OF TORTURE

LUTHERAN IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE SERVICE

CHURCH WORLD SERVICE IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE PROGRAM, life in Kakuma Refugee Camp.

AMERICAN REFUGEE COMMITTEE INTERNATIONAL

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL USA: REFUGEE PROGRAM

US COMMITTEE FOR REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS (USCRI)

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH

UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT FUND FOR WOMEN (UNIFEM), profile of Women, War, Peace, and Displacement. The often cited statistic that as many as 80 percent of displaced populations are women and children fails to convey the complete devastation that displacement visits upon women and communities in general. Leaving homes, property and community behind, renders women vulnerable to violence, disease and food scarcity, whether women flee willingly or unwillingly. Internally displaced women face additional dangers as they are often invisible to the international community within the borders of countries at war.

AFRICAN NEWS SOURCES

SUDAN.NET Current news of the Sudan.

ALL AFRICA, reports from Panafrican News Agency, regional newspapers and United Nations.

AFRICA ONLINE, a resource for news in Africa.

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