https://padlet.com/3120900/tucdzwitdv22 en-us 2017-01-10 00:01:22 UTC 2023-02-11 16:13:16 UTC hello@padlet.com 3120900 https://padlet.com/3120900/tucdzwitdv22/wish/147036872 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.]]> 2017-01-13 13:58:27 UTC https://padlet.com/3120900/tucdzwitdv22/wish/147036872 3120900 https://padlet.com/3120900/tucdzwitdv22/wish/147040133 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. ]]> 2017-01-13 14:09:04 UTC https://padlet.com/3120900/tucdzwitdv22/wish/147040133 3120900 https://padlet.com/3120900/tucdzwitdv22/wish/147040221 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!]]> 2017-01-13 14:09:21 UTC https://padlet.com/3120900/tucdzwitdv22/wish/147040221 3120900 https://padlet.com/3120900/tucdzwitdv22/wish/147040884 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.]]> 2017-01-13 14:11:33 UTC https://padlet.com/3120900/tucdzwitdv22/wish/147040884 3120900 https://padlet.com/3120900/tucdzwitdv22/wish/147040924 An article Christine Dell'Amore wrote in 2014 is the interview she and I had about the Civil War of South Sudan. ]]> 2017-01-13 14:11:41 UTC https://padlet.com/3120900/tucdzwitdv22/wish/147040924 3120900 https://padlet.com/3120900/tucdzwitdv22/wish/147040954 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. ]]> 2017-01-13 14:11:46 UTC https://padlet.com/3120900/tucdzwitdv22/wish/147040954 3120900 https://padlet.com/3120900/tucdzwitdv22/wish/147049702 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. ]]> 2017-01-13 14:36:53 UTC https://padlet.com/3120900/tucdzwitdv22/wish/147049702 3120900 https://padlet.com/3120900/tucdzwitdv22/wish/147973842 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. ]]> 2017-01-18 23:39:28 UTC https://padlet.com/3120900/tucdzwitdv22/wish/147973842 3120900 https://padlet.com/3120900/tucdzwitdv22/wish/148577129 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. ]]> 2017-01-22 16:38:24 UTC https://padlet.com/3120900/tucdzwitdv22/wish/148577129