The lives of the The Lost Boys in Sudan has been far from easy . Starting at a young age of four, Peter, a lost boy in the documentary "The Lost Boys of Sudan", had to take care of himself and keep himself alive. Peters village, like most Dinka Boys villages, were attacked by the Rebels in the civil war. For their own safety, they had to flee their homes and start a very long journey across the country with other Dinka boys with the same terrifying experiences as Peter to the refugee camps in Kenya. Many did not survive this journey because most people were attacked by African wildlife, starvation, thirst and exhaustion. Even though they were safe in the refugee camps, they still had a lack of food, medicine, electricity, education, and the camps were crowded. Some boys in the camps were migrated to America where they would get a job and send the money over to the the refugee camps in Kenya to help the people and Sudan. The boys saw this as a golden opportunity to start a new life and help start a new Sudan. They saw America as Heaven on earth. Little did they know what was really ahead of them in America.
Peters journey in the United States starts in Houston, Texas where he tried to get a job but was unsuccessful. Peter wanted to fit into the American society and to do that, Peter had to change his way of life by forgetting about his Sudan culture and learn a new one. He started by wearing basketball clothes, started to learn english, watched American TV to see what life was life in the U.S. But Peter also wanted an education. He knew he wouldn't be successful in achieving his goal in Houston so he moved to Kansas City. In Kansas, Peter was able to get into a public high school where he gained knowledge on schoolwork but also about American society. Peter also started joining in on things his friends did like go to parties, eat pizza, play basketball and get a girlfriend. Peter easily fit into his community but still has to face racism.
Peters boss believed that Peter could work in the hot sun for long hours in the heat because he was African and already sunburnt. Not just in work was there racism but at school. When Peter went to the counselor to talk about colleges, the counselor immediately thought that he should go to community collage and not the full four year collage because he believed Peter was not capable. Peter strongly believes in himself and proved that he was capable and the counselor was shocked of how well he had done through out the year. Also, when the counselor read Peters essay about his life, the counselor called its 'too sad to read' not realizing that Peters life in reality was struggling and 'sad'. On the streets, Peter was a different colored skin to the white Americans. He was much darker than the African Americans . Looking at Peter's skin color, people assumed he would hurt them or steal from them which Peter would never do. Peter just goes on with his life trying to block out the racism and showing the world how capable he really is.
But Peter had one major problem- being able to take care of himself all alone, go to work, do well in school, complete homework and pay his rent by himself. Peter's job had very little pay to pay the bills and for him to survive. On top of that, Peter had to send money to the people in Africa to help them survive as well. Lots of responsibility and pressure was on one 17 year old. Peters sister also complained that he did not call enough and he needed to send more money over. Peter had transferred into the American society so much that he had forgotten that he was meant to be helping the people in Africa such as his family. Peter overcomes this problem by promising his sister that he would try to send money over to his friends and family even if that meant he has to have less. Peters continues to concentrate on his schoolwork and to work hard. In the end, Peter finally graduates high school.
This is just one life of a Sudanese Lost Boy in America. Migrating to a new country and starting off with literally nothing isn't easy. Peter had to change himself into a new culture and a new life all by himself. Peter had been facing challenges alone all his life and in the United States, Peter had to face challenges alone with all the racism, pressure, responsibility and taking care of himself and his Sudanese people at the same time.
