An announcement from Professor Eileen Schell:
I’m pleased to announce human rights activist John Dau’s upcoming reading in the Writing Program’s  Nonfiction Series.  In a time when refugees and refugee resettlement is a topic that is at the forefront of global news media and human rights negotiations, John Dau is a important voice to listen to on questions of  refugees and human rights.   John will be reading in the Nonfiction Series on  November 19th, 3:30-5:00 p.m. 207 Hall of Languages

SU alumnus John Dau is  author of the  critically acclaimed memoir, God Grew Tired of Us (National Geographic, 2007) and also the subject of an award-winning documentary by the same name.  He is also the author of  Lost Boy/Lost Girl: Escaping Civil War in Sudan (National Geographic, 2010).

As one of the “Lost Boys of Sudan,” John Dau is featured in Christopher Quinn’s award-winning documentary, God Grew Tired of Us, and has experienced trials in life that most people never imagine.

Born in war-torn Sudan, Dau is one of 27,000 boys driven from their villages when the northern Arab government attacked the ethnic minority population of Southern Sudan in 1987. For the next five years, John led groups of displaced boys across Sudan for hundreds of miles facing starvation, disease, and violence. In 1992, he was placed in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya where, at 17, he received a basic education. In 2001, Dau was selected to immigrate to the United States and settled in Syracuse, New York.

Following his initial culture shock, John Bul Dau took on two jobs, earned an associate’s degree and earned a BA in Liberal Studies at Syracuse University.  Currently the President of the John Dau Foundation, he is an influential participant in many efforts to bring hope and peace to the people of South Sudan, raising over $1,000,000 to build a medical clinic in his home village. Dau co-authored his first book, God Grew Tired of Us: A Memoir, in 2007 and has received many prestigious awards among them National Geographic’s Emerging Explorers award and the 2009 Caring Institute award.

For more, see the news story here.