They were known simply as the "Lost Boys.” Orphaned by the brutal civil war in Sudan, these young survivors traveled as many as a thousand miles on foot in search of safety. Fifteen years later, a humanitarian effort would bring them to America. The film screening featured The Good Lie, in which Academy Award winner Reese Witherspoon stars alongside Sudanese actors Arnold Oceng, Ger Duany, Emmanuel Jal, and Kuoth Wiel, to bring the story of their survival and triumph to life. Thirteen years after surviving an attack on their village and difficult trek to Kenya, the now young adults are given the opportunity to leave the refugee camp and resettle in America. Upon arriving in Kansas, they are met by Carrie Davis, an employment agency counselor enlisted to help them find jobs – no easy task, when things like light switches and telephones are brand new to them.
This event was co-sponsored by the the Collaborative on Global Children’s Issues; Walsh School of Foreign Service; Center for Child and Human Development; Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching and Service; Laboratory for Global Performance and Politics; Global Human Development Program; Global Health Institute; and African Studies Program at Georgetown University. It is part of the Children in a World of Challenges Workshop series.