 |
| From left; Daniel Deng and Jacob Magot
(two of the “Lost Boys”), author Mark Bixler and
editor Nancy Grayson appeared at a question-and-answer session
at the Carter Center in Atlanta earlier this month. (Photo by
John McLeod) |
UGA alumnus Mark Bixler returns to Athens this week
to discuss his new book, The
Lost
Boys of Sudan: An American Story of the Refugee Experience.
The book grew out of Bixler’s articles about Sudanese refugees
for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and has just been
published by the University of Georgia Press. Bixler will discuss
the book at Barnes and Noble in Athens at 7 p.m. on March 31.
A signing will follow.
The book focuses on four men in Atlanta who are part of a larger
group known as the Lost Boys of Sudan. In the late 1980s, war in
Sudan separated thousands of boys from their parents and forced
them to march hundreds of miles. Many died of starvation, disease
or animal attacks. Survivors came of age in refugee camps.
 |
| The four Lost Boys who arrived in Atlanta
on United Airlines flight 1905 on July 18, 2001, were guided
into everyday life in the United States by Mathew Kon, a fellow
southern Sudanese who worked as a caseworker at the Atlanta
office of the International Rescue Committee, a nonprofit refugee-resettlement
agency. Seen here (from left) are Kon, Marko Ayii, Daniel Khoch,
Jacob Magot and Peter Anyang. (Photograph courtesy of Jacob
Magot) |
Acting on humanitarian grounds, the
United States opened its doors to 3,800 Lost Boys in 2000 and
2001. Never before had the federal government welcomed refugees
without mothers or fathers and with so little knowledge of the modern
world. The Lost Boys had never seen tall buildings or flicked on
electric lights, but they had four months to get their bearings
and find a job.
Bixler met Jacob Magot, Peter Anyang, Daniel Khoch and Marko Ayii
as they stepped off an airplane in Atlanta on July 18, 2001.
He chronicled their first four months in Atlanta in a front-page
newspaper story.
“The response was incredible,” says Bixler, who received
an English degree from UGA in 1992 and has worked as a reporter
since. “More than 100 people called to donate time or money.”
Bixler believes the story resonates with so many people because
at its core are universal human emotions. The story of being forced
from home, wandering through the wild, and coming of age with a
desire to learn, he says, is a story about grief, resilience and
the yearning to transcend obstacles.
Nancy Grayson, editor-in-chief of the UGA Press, saw potential when
she read the articles. She asked Bixler if he would write a book.
They decided Bixler would spend two years following Magot, Anyang,
Khoch and Ayii.
“I could not get this story out of my mind,” says Grayson.
“And it was a perfect match for us because it was an important
national event told through a local story.”
The result is a rich portrait that shows courageous survivors adjusting
to modern America, working long hours in low-wage jobs and struggling
to receive an education. The book also explores the complex history
of Sudan and the evolution of U.S. refugee policy, benefiting
from Bixler’s interviews with former President Carter and
former Sen. John Danforth, who was President Bush’s special
envoy on Sudan and the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
“While lively and even entertaining, the book does not simply
tug heartstrings with touching anecdotes,” noted Publishers
Weekly. “The book does not ignore the pitfalls and politics
of refugee resettlement, which are especially complicated since
9/11, but Bixler’s perspective is optimistic. He also provides
essential background, including a crash course on U.S. refugee
policy and a short history of Sudan.”
Magot, Anyang, Khoch and Ayii have now been in the United States
for almost four years. They are in school and on their way to achieving
their potential, but pursuing the American Dream requires sacrifice—Magot
often works from 3 p.m. to midnight, studies until 2 a.m.
and goes to class at Georgia Perimeter College from 8 a.m.
to noon. Other Lost Boys make similar sacrifices.
To help them, Bixler has created the IRC Sudanese Assistance Fund
with the Atlanta office of the International Rescue Committee, a
non-profit agency that resettles refugees. Bixler is donating a
portion of his proceeds to the fund (he’s also donating proceeds
to Jubilee Partners, a Christian community near Athens that has
oriented 3,000 refugees since 1980). UGA Press is donating
a portion of its proceeds to the IRC Sudanese Assistance Fund, too,
and tax-deductible contributions are welcome. The money will mainly
help Sudanese refugees pursue an education. |
