It begins in his farming village when he is only eight years old. The Muslims attack his Christian Sudanese village with the backing of the ruling party.  He witnessed the murder of his father and brother and Sylvester fled into the desert. He was met there by many other children trying to find safety. There was no safety in the desert.

"I saw children crying and I started crying.
I was just eight years old. I had to keep moving. There was no water. There was no food. We didn't know the direction we were going. Thank goodness the older children the twelve year olds took charge. There was no way to turn back. We looked for water. I saw my brothers lying down. We had to leave them alive. They died there. But God is great. We found water: half mud and half water.

"It saved some of us.
Crocodiles got some us in the rivers. We walked thousands of miles. But some of us made it to Ethiopia. We were there for three years. The war followed us. A Kenyan refugee camp was home for along time. I worked for the Red Cross. All the kids knew me. There were 600,000 Sudanese in this refugee camp."

The Lost Boys of the Sudan are a group of 30,000 boys of 8 or 9 years of age who left their families and war-torn homes of Sudan. They stayed together on a treacherous journey. They traveled first to Ethiopia, then Kenya, which was home for eight years and finally settling in the United States three years ago in search of a home. One-hundred and fifty of these young men now 19-27 years old settled on the north side of Chicago. They want to be regarded as "The Lost Boys of the Sudan to honor their commitment to each other and the journey shared. Today many of these young men speak to schools, churches and other community organizations to share their stories of survival and courage. Where they go, they inspire hope.

"I passed through hard times.
I talk about it. The story is painful but if you talk about it you feel better. I want people to know the world is not perfect. You may live with your parents. There may be a time when you are separated from your parents. If it is not a war, natural things happen. Have faith that you can get through it too. It was because of God most of us survived.

"Right now, the whole world hasn't responded to us.
I have thought about this. The continued destruction of our people is going on. If such a thing is going on, people have to respond. This is government supported genocide. The Sudanese government is not protecting the people. We are all one people. I am black and you are white. But if we go to the blood we are all one. We are all human-beings. God doesn't leave these people to die off. I want peace for my people."

Jackie Krause, founder of the Chicago Chapter of the Lost Boys of the Sudan (CALBOS), explained the problem in starker terms. "More Lost Boys are not coming over because of September 11. Sudan is considered a terrorist country. The door is closed to more Lost Boys coming to America. The Lost Boys started coming over with help of a the United States and a United Nations program starting in the spring of 2001 and then 911 happened. I welcomed the first eight and no more are coming. The door is closed."

Sylvester is very glad to be in the United States.
He is a peaceful courageous leader among his brothers. He helps facilitate a support group every Thursday of fellow Lost Boys at St Paul's Church on the Lake. He also works full-time for a Church in Wilmette and goes to school part-time at Loyola University with the hopes of studying counseling. He has called Rogers Park his home for the past three years. He likes the warm people he has met here and likes living and playing soccer near the lake.