Jacob Margot, a 24-year-old refuge from Sudan, spoke at UGA on behalf of Amnesty International. He lived through a crippling civil war in Sudan and migrated to Ethiopia and Kenya before gaining asylum in the U.S. He talked about his quest to bring stability to his homeland. An excerpt:

“I am one of the Sudanese ‘Lost Boys.’ I hope you’ve heard of the Lost Boys and how they came to be known as the Lost Boys. When the Sudanese rebelled against the government, I was forced out of my country as a kid of 5 and took refuge in Ethiopia for four years.

“There are many people who are still suffering in Sudan. It should be the responsibility of every person who hears about it to change it. It happened in South Africa when apartheid was condemned, and it can happen in Sudan.

“I have not met my father. I don’t know if he’s alive or dead. Most of you have that basic part of being human. You know your love for your father or your love for your mother. I can’t have that moment in human life, so it is my obligation to let people know that we can stand up to these actions in Sudan and condemn them so other people can have those human moments.”

“It was very hard when I came to America. I had to start life over, go to school, get a job. Now I’m in college. I have a feeling if I share my story with Americans, people will try to help out because the people who helped me out were American.”