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Both Martha and I wrote a book Lost Boy, Lost Girl. The biography follows the story of Martha Arual Akech and me, John Bul Dua. Click the link for an overview!

I also wrote God Grew Tired of Us which is also about my lost boy experiences. The link to that book can also be found on the same website Martha linked below.

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Lost Boy, Lost Girl by John Bul Dau | PenguinRandomHouse.com

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One of thousands of children who fled strife in southern Sudan, John Bul Dau survived hunger, exhaustion, and violence. His wife, Martha, endured similar hardships. In this memorable book, the two convey...

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1958- Sudan becomes an independent nation
Late 1950s- Civil war begins when the North tries to stop a Southern rebellion by burning cillages
1969- Southern Sudanese continue to revolt, fearing the government will make Sudan a Muslim country
1972- Northern and Southern Sudan reach a compromise with help from the United Nations and teh World Council fo Churches.
1973- The Socialist Republic of Sudan is formed. The south becomes self-governing and the north makes Islam the state religion.
Late 1970's- Southern Sudan's self-governing begins to fall apart
1983- A second revolt begins when the north begins a policy of rotating soldiers between the south and north. Southern soldiers do not want to leave their families. A Muslim legal code is put into place.
1984- The Sudan People's Libertation Movement announces it will bring down the government with help from the Sudan People's Libertation Army (SPLA). The SPLA attacks northern army and government stations in Southern Sudan, resulting in open warfare.
1987- Northern armies raid John's village forcing John to flee.
1989- Northern armies raid Wernyol, the village where Martha and Tabitha are staying with family also forcing the two girls to flee.
1992- The forces of Sudan's ruling government begins the largest offensive of the long civil war.
December 19, 2000- After years as refugees, Martha and Tabitha arrive in the United States
2001- Negotiations begin between the SPLA and the government in Khartoum
August 2001- John arrives in the United States after years of life as a refugee
2005- A peace agreement ordering a permanent cease-fire is signed. Humanitarian organizations begin helping to bring hundreds of thousands of refugees home.
May 2007- John Dua opens the Duk Lost Boys Clinic in Southern Sudan where thousands of Sudanese receive lifesaving medical care.

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The background depicts what the Lost Children, such as ourselves, had to walk through to evade the northern government. The scortching sun burned our backs and the blistering sand burned our bare feet, as we had no shoes. Even looking at it make you tired and overheated, doesn't it? If you position the post correctly by scrolling, you can catch a glimpse of the scortching sun.

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In 1958, Britain granted Sudan freedom. The new nation brought two groups of people together: the Arabs who practiced Islam and spoke Arabic who inhabited the north and many black-skinned tribes who either practiced Christianity or other traditional religions and spoke many different languages who dominated the south. Anyone could say that these two groups of people did not have much in common. In the early 1980s, the north tried to impose Arabic laws on the whole country, starting the violent war. The link below provides a more detailed history of Sudan. You can also take a look at the timeline post below to have a better overlook of the the events that occured.

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Table of Contents

Audio File: National anthem of Sudan

Sudan, country located in northeastern Africa. The name Sudan derives from the Arabic expression bilād al-sūdān ("land of the blacks"), by which medieval Arab geographers referred to the settled African countries that began at the southern edge of the Sahara. For more than a century, Sudan-first as a colonial holding, then as an independent country-included its neighbour South Sudan, home to many sub-Saharan African ethnic groups. Prior to the secession of the south in 2011, Sudan was the largest African country, with an area that represented more than 8 percent of the African continent and almost 2 percent of the world's total land area.

Since ancient times the Sudan region has been an arena for interaction between the cultural traditions of Africa and those of the Mediterranean world. Islam and the Arabic language achieved ascendancy in many northern parts of the region, while older African languages and cultures predominated in the south.

The country became independent in 1956 and has had numerous changes in government since then. Successive regimes found it difficult to win general acceptance from the diverse political constituencies. An early conflict arose between those northern leaders who hoped to impose unity upon the nation through the vigorous extension of Islamic law and culture to all parts of the country and those who opposed this policy; the latter included the majority of southerners and those northerners who favoured a secular government.

From 1955 until 1972 there prevailed a costly and divisive civil war, fought largely in the south but punctuated by violent incidents in the north. The Addis Ababa Agreement of 1972 ended the conflict only temporarily, and in 1983 the civil war resumed. By this time the comparative lack of economic development in the south had become a new source of regional grievance, and northern leaders' continuing attempts to Islamize the Sudanese legal system proved an even more potent source of discord. Attempts to end the civil war included numerous discussions, cease-fires, and agreements but yielded very little success until 2005, when the Comprehensive Peace Agreement ended the warfare. It also granted southern Sudan semiautonomous status and stipulated that a referendum on independence for the south would be held in six years. The results of the vote, held in January 2011, were overwhelmingly in favour of independence, and South Sudan was declared an independent country on July 9, 2011.

Sudan's capital, Khartoum, is located roughly in the centre of the country, at the junction of the Blue Nile and White Nile rivers. It is part of the largest urban area in Sudan and is a centre of commerce as well as of government.

Mohy el Din Sabr Jay L. Spaulding The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Jay L. Spaulding The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Land

Sudan is bounded on the north by Egypt, on the east by the Red Sea, Eritrea, and Ethiopia, on the south by South Sudan, on the west by the Central African Republic and Chad, and on the northwest by Libya.

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Relief

Sudan is mainly composed of vast plains and plateaus that are drained by the Nile River and its tributaries. This river system runs from south to north across the entire length of the east-central part of the country. The immense plain of which Sudan is composed is bounded on the west by the Nile-Congo watershed and the highlands of Darfur and on the east by the Ethiopian Plateau and the Red Sea Hills ( ʿAtbāy). This plain can be divided into a northern area of rock desert that is part of the Sahara; the western Qawz, an area of undulating sand dunes that merges northward into the rock desert; and a central-southern clay plain.

Most of northern Sudan is a sand- or gravel-covered desert, diversified by flat-topped mesas of Nubian sandstone and islandlike steep-sided granite hills. In south-central Sudan the clay plain is marked by inselbergs (isolated hills rising abruptly from the plains), the largest group of which forms the Nuba Mountains (Jibāl Al-Nūbah). The western plain is composed primarily of Nubian sandstones, which form a dissected plateau region with flat-topped mesas and buttes. The volcanic highlands of the Marrah Mountains rise out of the Darfur Plateau farther west to elevations between approximately 3,000 and 10,000 feet (900 and 3,000 metres) above sea level. These mountains form the Nile-Congo watershed and the western boundary of the clay plain.

In northeastern Sudan the Red Sea Hills region is an uplifted escarpment. The scarp slope facing the Red Sea forms rugged hills that are deeply incised by streams. The escarpment overlooks a narrow coastal plain that is 10 to 25 miles (16 to 40 km) wide and festooned with dunes and coral reefs. Farther south the eastern uplands constitute the foothills of the Ethiopian highland massif.

Drainage and soils

The Nile River system is the dominant physical feature, and all streams and rivers of Sudan drain either into or toward the Nile. It enters the country as the White Nile (Baḥr Al-Abyaḍ) in the southeast, about 60 miles (100 km) south of Kūstī, and maintains an extremely low gradient until it is joined by the Blue Nile (Baḥr Al-Azraq) at Khartoum. The Blue Nile, which rises in the Ethiopian Plateau, contributes much of the floodwaters of the White Nile. After the confluence of the White and Blue Niles at Khartoum, the river flows in a great northward-curving course and is known simply as the Nile (Nahr Al-Nīl). Throughout much of the country, however, drainage does not reach the Nile; the rivers of the southwest infrequently reach the Baḥr Al-Ghazāl system, and to the north most hill groups initiate seasonal watercourses that are lost in the surrounding plains.

The surface of the deserts in the north and northeast are either bare rock, a mantle of bare waste, or sandy expanses of mobile dunes known as ergs. In the semiarid zone of north-central Sudan, the layer of rock waste is slightly modified to form immature soils; in the Qawz region, soils are brownish red and of low fertility. Alluvial soils occur at the desert deltas of Al-Qāsh (the Gash) and Barakah rivers, along the White and Blue Niles, and in the alluvial plains of the many small rivers radiating from the Marrah Mountains. The alkaline soils of the south-central plain are heavy cracking clays. The soil of the Gezira ( Al-Jazīrah) plain south of Khartoum is deep-cracking uniform clay that has been deposited during the annual inundations of the Blue Nile.

Climate

In northernmost Sudan, northerly winds prevail for most of the year, and rainfall is rare. To the south of this the seasons are characterized by the north-south oscillation of the boundary between moist southerly air and dry northerly air. In winter the north winds of the tropical air mass blow across Sudan. These winds are relatively cool and dry and usually bring no rain. Sometime around May, the moist southerly air of the southern maritime air mass moves northward across the country. Because of this, central and southern Sudan have rainy seasons, the total lengths of which vary according to their latitude.

Sudan is a hot country. The central and eastern areas have the highest mean annual temperatures, typically ranging from the mid-90s to mid-100s F (mid-30s to low 40s C). In the west and northwest of the country, the highest mean temperatures generally range from the mid-80s to mid-90s F (low to mid-30s C). The highest temperatures normally occur just before the rainy season. The mean minimum temperatures in most of the country range from the high 60s to high 70s F (low to mid-20s C); in the west and northwest, mean minimum temperatures are a little lower, ranging from the high 50s to high 60s F (mid-10s to low 20s C).

Precipitation varies from almost nothing in the north and centre to 20-30 inches (500-750 mm) annually in the south. Along the Red Sea the climate is alleviated by sea breezes, and most of the rain falls during winter. In southern Sudan, precipitation usually occurs during the summer months. Dust storms are common in the north and centre, often occurring before rainstorms in the late spring and early summer.

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Sudan | History, Map, Area, Population, Religion, & Facts

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Sudan, country located in northeastern Africa. The name Sudan derives from the Arabic expression bilād al-sūdān ("land of the blacks"), by which medieval Arab geographers referred to the settled African countries that began at the southern edge of the Sahara.

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National Geographic released an article based off of my life experiences as a Lost Boy.

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National Geographic released an article based off of my life experiences as a Lost Boy.

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An article Christine Dell'Amore wrote in 2014 is the interview she and I had about the Civil War of South Sudan.

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To John Bul Dau, the story is all too familiar.

South Sudan is now teetering on the edge of civil war following several weeks of violence that have claimed the lives of at least a thousand people and forced another 200,000 to flee their homes.

This time, though, Dau is no longer a 12-year-old Lost Boy, the name given to the 27,000 young men forced from their villages when the northern Arab government attacked the ethnic minority population more than 20 years ago. At the time, South Sudan and Sudan were one country in the midst of a long and deadly civil war between the Arab north and the Christian south. In 2011, South Sudan became its own country. (Read "Sudan's Shaky Peace" in National Geographic magazine.)

Now a human rights activist and National Geographic explorer living in the United States, Dau knows firsthand the outcome of war-and believes that this one can be halted if other governments take bold steps.

The recent unrest occurred when South Sudanese President Salva Kiir accused former vice president Riek Machar of mounting a coup-a situation worsened by the fact the men are members of different ethnic minorities.

Rebels loyal to Machar have since been fighting against Kiir's government troops. The two sides met for talks for the first time on January 7 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, but are still at a stalemate.

We talked to Dau-who is also president of both the John Dau Foundation and the South Sudan Institute-about his thoughts on the new conflict and how the violence has affected his work in his home country. (See pictures of South Sudan.)
What's the situation on the ground right now in South Sudan?
I've been following it every hour and staying in contact with people in Juba, the capital; my relatives and friends; and also [staff] in the Duk Lost Boys Medical Clinic. We have almost all of our staff out there, and we stay in contact with them every day. As we speak, it's still very terrible. But the area of Duk where the clinic is has been relatively peaceful.
Can you give me some background on your clinic?
When I came to the U.S. 12 years ago, I thought, I am so blessed to be in this country where people are generous. I thought it would be a good idea to give back to the Americans. The way to give back was to do something for people in South Sudan, so I came up with the idea of building a medical clinic. People in the U.S. responded positively, fund-raising started, and we started seeing people in 2007. We have treated over 111,000 people for almost everything you can think of, from eye diseases to malaria to HIV/ AIDS to pneumonia to diarrhea. We have treated 600 people who were blind from cataracts and glaucoma and now can see again. It's what I call the big heart of America.
How has the recent violence and unrest in South Sudan affected you?
It has affected us so much because there are no supplies coming to the clinic, no food-it's very difficult to bring medicine because nobody can fly to the area of the clinic. Although it's relatively peaceful on the ground, the government has restricted any planes going into the area, and a state of emergency has been declared. If the war continues to go on for another two or three weeks, it's going to be very tough for us-we are running out of medicine and food.
What are you and your organization doing to help the situation in South Sudan?
We are helping internally displaced persons-not only treating them but giving them some support. We give the message loud and clear, the clinic belongs to all of you-we want to bring unity through the clinic. When you bring people together to eat and share something, they become friends-they become brothers and sisters. That's what we're trying to do: bring peace through medical services. We also need resources so we can donate food to people affected by this war. The clinic has been an icon for peace.
What needs to happen before South Sudan can be peaceful again?
These leaders should realize that killing of people will not automatically bring them to power-they are only worsening [the situation]. What needs to happen is the realization that people are people, they have parents, they have relatives. I've been calling on the U.S., the UN, the European Union, Canada, and other countries bordering South Sudan to intervene in the war, to stop it. If we can remove from power these two leaders who are fighting, I think South Sudan will be better. The only way for South Sudan to be peaceful, to be united, to be one nation, is the elimination of these leaders from power. It's a very difficult thing to say, but I have to say what I think is right.
What do you mean by elimination?
Pushing the leaders out of those positions-for example, by voting them out of office. Another way is to get the international community involved to stop them.
Does this bring back memories of your experience as a Lost Boy?
Absolutely. When I see this senseless killing, it brings back vividly what happened when I was 12 years old when my village was attacked. I thought I was going to be on my way to a complete healing, and that's how South Sudanese feel. Now those scars and wounds were again reopened.
Are you planning on going back?
I was supposed to leave for South Sudan on the 28th of December with 16 doctors, but we canceled it because I don't want to bring my good friends into harm's way. Hopefully we are going to go back soon after this terrible thing has stopped.
Do you still have family in South Sudan?
My dad and mom and brothers are in South Sudan. They are safe for now. They take it day by day. I hope it will stay that way.
What should our readers know about the situation?
Go out and read from many publications and listen to many interviews and make your own judgment. This war has no meaning to it. It's not a war about religion: 98 percent of South Sudanese are Christian. It's not about race-all people in South Sudan are African. South Sudan fought together against the oppressions by the north [Sudan], and now they are splitting themselves and fighting against each other-there's no sense and reason to fight. Your readers have to understand there's no convincing issue that people should fight over. It's a war of greed, of personal insult, and it's a war that could be stopped.
This interview has been edited and condensed. Follow Christine Dell'Amore on Twitter and Google+.

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"Lost Boy" John Bul Dau: Stop War, Killing in South Sudan

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To John Bul Dau, the story is all too familiar. South Sudan is now teetering on the edge of civil war following several weeks of violence that have claimed the lives of at least a thousand people and forced another 200,000 to flee their homes.

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Where I (John) grew up, the land mainly consisted of very flat plains with grass that can grow as high as eight feet between the patches of forest and farmland. Throughout the year, there are dry and rainy seasons. Villages can turn into swamps during the rainy seasons, yet they can also become deserts during the dry seasons. Some areas of Sudd, the area that separates North and South Sudan, almost never go dry. Even in the driest of the dry season, Sudd can sustain grass and cattle. The website below shows only a snapshot of what life is like in both the country side and cities of South Sudan.

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#sudan - Photos - National Geographic Your Shot

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See all of our Your Shot photo community's pictures of #sudan. Get inspired and upload your own.

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Both Martha and I are most known for being the Lost Children of South Sudan. But, I am also known for the foundation I set up for the future Sudanese refugees like the both of us. I am commited to improving health care in Sudan. The Duk Lost Boys Hospital I set up provides hope for the people of my village and the surrounding communities. Click my foundation website link below for more information!

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As one of the 27,000 "Lost Boys of Sudan", John Dau has experienced challenges that most people could never imagine. As a young man, he fled his home during the Second Sudanese Civil War, spending much of his adolescence as a refugee fleeing hostile militias, fighting against extreme hunger and thirst, and leading thousands of young boys just like him across hundreds upon hundreds of miles in search of safety.

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Because John was temporarily busy helping out with his foundation, I stepped in to help him record. This recording is my experiences as a lost girl, since John had already described his lost boy experiences in various interviews (such as the one he did with National Geographic).

Note: You may want to look at the "Sudanese History" post before listening to the recording for more background information.

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Get to know me: (Click on the link!) John Bul Dau
Although no one really knows, I believe I was born in July 1974. My name John come from the Christian name and from the many missionaries that did thier work in the southernmost part of Sudan. My father, Deng Leek Deng Aller, was a ferocious wrestler and later became a judge even though he didn't go to school. My mother, Anon Manyok Duot Lual, was the daughter of the Dinka cheif and was considered by the whole village as a fine bride. As Dinka tradition follows, my father had to pay many cows (believed to be the gift from God) to my mother's male relatives in order to pass his name on. Unlike Martha, I grew up in the country side of South Sudan. Since there was no technology, I did many chores from a very young age. When I was younger, I would wake up before the sun and went to the luak (a shelter simlar to a pasture) with my brothers to lead our cows outside. After the luak was emptied, we cleaned the floor, gathered the dung from the night before, and hauled it outside. We broke it into little pieces and let them dry in the sun. We burned this to ward off the biting flies and other parasites from the cows. We did play with our clay cow figurines, pretending we ran our own farm, and played alueth (a game similar to Sharks and Minnows, but with lions and hunters). As I grew older, I joined the older boys to protect the cattle, learned to fight with knives, spears, and clubs, and wrestled with my friends to grow tall and strong. Instead of going to school, we would rely on the stories and fables our village told and the games that involved solving riddles. But, I would never dream how this simple life would be taken away from me in the very near future.
Don't forget me, Martha Arual Akech!
Unlike John, I grew up in Juba, the largest city of Sudan. So, unlike John, there are well over a hundred tribes with their own language where I grew up. Like John, I am part of the Dinka tribe, but part of the Abek clan. John's clan is the Bor Nyarweng. My father, a policeman, my mother, my little sister Tabitha, and I lived with another family in a small, three room house. We had a kitchen and two, small bedrooms where we would sleep and, during the rainy seasons, spend most of the day playing with Tabitha. During the dry season, everyone would bring chairs outside in the shade and despite the stifling heat. The children in our neighborhood would play tag together, and us girls would sometimes pretend we were cooking and sometimes play with our dolls our mothers made out of old clothes and other scraps. We even made small bowls and pots out of clay, just like Sudanese women do. Little did I know, trouble was brewing with the people of South Sudan and the Arab government. Riots and fights were erupting all over the south, because the Arab government favored the north. I was only five years old at that time, only worried about playing with my friends and sister, and expecting life to always the way it was forever.

This is a picture of our family. Our daughter's name is Agot and our son's name is Leek. We also welcomed a new daughter of our family, Akur, in May of 2010.