Lost Boys Finding a Way

By Timmy Watson in Arts & Entertainment on Jan 28, 2007 8:22PM

With the new Dave Eggers book receiving critical acclaim and with a new documentary, God Grew Tired of Us: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan produced by Brad Pitt, those that were relocated to the United States in 2001 from Sudan are giving a voice to a country that has long been ignored.

The so-called Lost Boys are a group of 4,000 Sudanese who were sent to the United States in 2001. The Sudanese government massacred approximately 2 million East Africans in a civil war in the 1980's sending thousands fleeing through impossible conditions to Kenya and Ethiopia. The International Rescue Committee, the UN, and the Red Cross aided the group in their relocation and have helped bring their story to the international community.

The documentary opens around Chicago this weekend and a group of the Sudanese "Lost Boys" were in the Chicago area today to meet regarding a new non-profit they are starting to raise money for the still war torn Sudan. Darfur's situation, which has been acknowledged by the United States as genocide, has displaced almost 3 million people, and 400,000 have been killed. The group intends to help those still trying to survive with money for education, food, and water.