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Sudanese 'Lost Boy' visits Seton community
By Joyce Coronel, news@catholicsun.org
August 21, 2008
CHANDLER — Students, faculty and staff at Seton Catholic High School met Benjamin Ajak, one of the “Lost Boys” of Sudan, during a daylong visit to the school Aug. 13.
Each year the East Valley Catholic high school focuses on one of the four charisms of its patron, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. This year, the emphasis is on “determination.” Ajak, the faculty decided, was a stunning example of it.
Mary O’Reilly, one of the school’s English teachers, said the faculty heard about a book written by Ajak and two of his cousins that chronicled the boys’ harrowing trek through the deserts of Africa. “They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky” was required summer reading — and not just for students.
“Every student, every faculty member and every staff member was asked to read it,” said O’Reilly, adding that parents also read the book. Ajak spoke with students during their English classes and the school also held two assemblies so the entire student body could hear his account.
Members of the community were invited to a presentation that same evening and packed the school’s new chapel to hear Ajak’s inspirational, though at times heartbreaking, story of his journey to America.
In 1987, when Ajak was just 5 years old, he was forced to flee his home when government troops from the north attacked his village. A genocide ensued.
Ajak and thousands of other boys in southern Sudan began walking. They had no idea where they were going, but knew they had to escape or they would be killed. Without food or water, many of them died along the way. Ajak said they ate wet mud and some of them drank their own urine to survive.
After finally making it to a refugee camp in Ethiopia, they were forced out when that country’s troubles roiled. They next walked all the way to Kenya, though many perished while crossing a river, drowning or falling prey to crocodiles.
In 2001, some of the boys were brought to the United States in a refugee resettlement effort. Ajak now resides in San Diego and he had some words of advice for the Seton students: Be thankful. And do your homework.
“Please — this is why I’m here,” he said. “Don’t take for granted what you have in the United States. Take advantage of what you have here. Enjoy it and thank God you have a great country and great parents.”
Shannon Ryan, senior class president, said, “It’s a miracle he’s here. It was a really great experience for all the students to hear his story and how much he values education.”
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