Peter arrived in the United States in 2001. Since that time, he has emerged as a natural leader, serving on the CALBOS board and as secretary for the Ayual Community Development Association, an organization helping improve conditions for the Ayual Community in Sudan. In addition to his full time job and his own college studies, he is continually problem solving and seeking out new avenues and opportunities for the young Sudanese here in Chicago, across United States and in Sudan. These activities only begin to speak to of impact on others. One Thursday, at a weekly dinner where CALBOS gathers at St. Pauls’ By the Lake, was the deadline for submitting scholarship applications. Peter spent the entire evening circulating, urging everyone to fill out applications and helping those who needed guidance. He is an unobtrusive and strong leader, urging everyone toward their personal best without drawing attention to himself.

Peter was born in Wangulei in Bor, the Upper Nile region in Southern Sudan, to a family of nine: his parents, two brothers and four sisters. When Peter was seven, war forced him to leave his family to seek safety in Ethiopia until war broke out there and he journeyed to Kenya where he lived in a refugee camp in Kakuma. I recently had an opportunity to talk to him about his life in Sudan and Kenya as well as here in America.

The Interview

Brandi:
You left your family at such a young age. What has that been like?

Peter:
I absolutely miss them. I am now thinking of going back to Africa, if there is a possibility, to visit my 80-year-old mom, whom I have never seen for the last 16 years. She came to Kenya after I left for the U.S., with the rest of my family members and her arrival to Kenya was also my first time to hear her voice since I left home in 1988.

Brandi:
How has being on your own and taking care of yourself since seven years old impacted you?

Peter:
It taught me how to be a responsible person. I have also learned that anything terrible that can happen in this world can be overcome. Experience or picking up good things from various cultures and incorporating them to my own culture has been another advantage, but it also, at the same time, left me with memories that will not be easy to erase.

Brandi:
What kind of problems did you encounter on your journey?

Peter:
We walked in the sun without clothes and shoes from the bar land planted with land-mines where one cannot see anything green, but only sand and blue sky without even a tiny piece of cloud to cover the sky. Some of our daily duties, when many of our brothers were between the age of 7 to 12, was to carry the dead bodies to the Cemetery, digging the ground to bury brothers and friends who everyday died from the starvation, disease, and cold. Going to the forest everyday, collecting wild fruits, leaves, roots, and vegetables which had consequently contaminated many, and forcing ourselves to build shelters in that life threatening situation, were some of the problems we encountered. An exodus from Ethiopia after the war broke out, accompanied by mass killing from the Ethiopian soldiers, scattering in the desert which resulted in loss of lives because of cold, rain, starvation, mosquito attack, wild animals, and finally drowning from the Gilo River, are also few memories I will never forget.

Brandi:
What was life like when you reached Kenya?

Peter:
Life in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya was a little bit better because we were able to go to school, although lack of medicine and insecurity were some major problems despite the fact that people were only able to eat once a day or even spent two days without eating.

Brandi:
Did you feel safe at the Kakuma Camp? How long were you there?

Peter:
Life in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya was a little bit better because we were able to go to school, although lack of medicine and insecurity were some major problems despite the fact that people were only able to eat once a day or even spent two days without eating.

Brandi:
What was adjusting to America like for you?

Peter:
Adjustment to things such as language, weather, loneliness or missing family and friends, transportation, shopping, and many others lead to “Cultural Shock,” which was often characterized by feelings such as sadness, fear, disappointment, and frustration. But asking questions, making new friends, learning things one by one, getting involved in areas of interest, and adopting to the education system enabled us to overcome the cultural shock.

Brandi:
What were some of your areas of interest that helped you overcome this shock?

Peter:
Going to school and church, making money to pay my rent, tuition, and bills, and helping my relatives, watching T.V shows, BBC world news, and movies, attending summer events, spending freetime with friends, and the responsibilities I have for my community are some areas of my interest.

Brandi:
What problems still face the Lost Boys here in Chicago?

Peter:
We are emotionally and socially affected by the ongoing genocide war in Sudan’s Darfur. Finding jobs is also another challenge, we, the Lost Boys, have been facing and still face now. Very few have financial aid or scholarships for college and health insurance is unavailable to many of the Lost Boys. Despite the fact that we lost so many of our brothers, we, the Lost Boys, who came to America are the “lucky ones” because we have the opportunity to educate ourselves, we have a voice to communicate with people from around the globe, and, finally, we have the opportunity to look for resources to help ourselves, our relatives, and our Sudanese who are still suffering at home as well as to raise public awareness about Sudan’s humanitarian crisis concerns.

Brandi:
Besides balancing all of your activities, what problems or challenges are you, personally still facing?

Peter:
The refugee's life, especially for an independent person like me, is always a lot of struggle, but my primary problem now is how I can get a scholarship in order to pursue my study and have a better job.

Brandi:
What are your aspirations and dreams for the future?

Peter:
Life is always meaningless if the person failed to contribute toward his/her own life, his/her community, and the world he/she lived in. My dream has never been to succed in life in order to just help myself, but, rather, helping my people is the only thing in my mind. Finishing my education is now my goal and I am confidently aware I will use my achievement to help my people, whether I have to remain here in America or go back to Sudan.

Brandi:
And you're already doing this through your work in CALBOS and ACDA. Is this work helping?

Peter:
Yeah! I have already done a lot and I am still looking forward to doing even more. It is very easy for me to make a connection to the people who have skills, experience, commitment, and resources to do what they can to help my people. I have, for the last 3 years, been successful in making connection, encouraging, and keeping the relationship between the Sudanese Lost Boys and CALBOS volunteers, who have fully committed themselves to help my Sudanese brothers in Chicago. ACDA, in which I am also one of the founders, is my community organization that I have been doing anything I can to support.

Brandi:
Do you have any hope that people of Sudan who are scattered over the world will one day return home and live in peace?

Peter: Brandi, man-made crisis can cause a great damage as has already happened in Southern Sudan or Darfur. Even a natural disaster can do a great destruction and finally end. Job in the Old testament, who was the happiest man on earth during his life-time due to his richness, was tempted, lost all his family members and possessions and suffered physically, but because of his faith and hope, God restored all his properties and provided him with children again which restored his happiness till his death at the age of 140 years. From the word of Job, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” Sudanese now are all over the world, million of lives have been lost, and all properties had gone, but I hope and I believe there will be a time when all separated Sudanese will return home to make good use of their nation’s resources, live in a free, united Sudan where every citizen will worship what he/she wants to worship, eat what he/she wants to eat, say what he/she wants to say, and stay where he/she wants to live.

Brandi:
What do you think of the north-south peace agreement that was just signed?

Peter:
Signing of Sudan peace, if implemented, will be a major step toward stability, but availability of ethnic groups/tribes with different ways of doing things—despite the fact that Sudan’s long-running war has left anger among various tribes, especially in Southern Sudan, where the Arab-dominated Khartoum regime had politically turned those tribes against each other—will make it hard for the Sudanese to come together. In addition, people may return home and face a lot of challenges because there are no roads, shelters, schools, hospitals or clinic, food, water facilities, and all what they need to support life, but only land mines in Sudan’s soil. Intermingling in different cultures may also, consequently, lead to the loss of our cultural values which will be big adjustment to our people. Even diseases acquired from those neighboring countries will socially make the life uncomfortable.

Brandi:
Who do you admire?

Peter:
My role models are the Lost Boys, who have made the United States of America a proud nation in the whole world due to the resettlement of the Sudanese Lost Boys who, in addition, built an everlasting-historical relationship with the American people. Their testimonies all over the United States have transformed our nation from being one of the top corrupted nation in the whole world to a freedom nation where citizens no longer fear to voice their concerns as we have experienced it in this great land of America.

Brandi:
You are very community minded, a true leader. You've said a lot about what you hope for the Sudanese as a people, and Sudan as a country. What do you also hope for yourself?

Peter:
A better life, but a better life for me means I must finish my school.