‘Lost Boy of Sudan’ Speaks at CLA Commencement

John Bul Dau, one of the ‘Lost Boys of Sudan’ featured in the film "God Grew Tired of Us" delivered the commencement address at the College of Liberal Arts commencement on May 13, 2007 in Northrop Auditorium.

Dau is one of the thousands of African males in southern Sudan attacked in the 1980s and '90s by the Arab Sudanese government in the north. For 16 years, beginning at age 12, Dau was either on the run from Arab militia and the Sudanese army, wild animals, starvation and thirst or living in refugee camps. In 2001, he was chosen to emmigrate to the United States, a place he had never heard of until he learned to read at age 17.

Dau relocated to Syracuse, New York, to pursue a job and an education. Often working double-shifts at McDonalds, UPS and other places of employment, he received a degree from Syracuse University. He was fortunate to locate his parents and siblings in Uganda and Sudan, and raised the funds necessary to bring his mother and a sister to live with him in Syracuse in 2004.

Now married to one of the "Lost Girls," Dau has worked tirelessly on behalf of the citizens of Sudan. He is the founder of the American Care for Sudan Foundation, which raises funds to build the Duk Lost Boys Clinic, the first medical clinic in Duk County where Dau lived as a boy. Dau is the director of the Sudan Project at Direct Change, which raises funds for rebuilding southern Sudan.

Dau’s experiences as a Sudanese Lost Boy both in Africa and in the United States are recounted in his memoir God Grew Tired of Us, which was written with Michael Sweeney. "God Grew Tired of Us," recently featured at area theaters, was directed by Christopher Quinn and narrated by Nicole Kidman.