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God Grew Tired of Us: A Memoir by John Bul Dau

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God Grew Tired of Us: A Memoir by John Bul Dau
In John Bul Dau’s memoir, God Grew Tired of Us, he tells the inspiring and heart wrenching story of the Lost Boys of Sudan. This two hundred and eighty one page book was published in 2008 in the USA. John’s moving story begins by explaining the tense political situation in his beloved homeland, Sudan. Sudan is a country located in Northern africa. John was born in1974 into the Dinka tribe in the agricultural and cattle raising farm of Duk County. The environment of southern Sudan is scorching hot and dry, however the farmers and herders in Sudan, including the one’s in John’s own village, adapted to their surroundings by using different techniques to hunt and grow produce varying on the season. He grew up in his peaceful village very content with the simple, tradition ways of the Dinka and his Christian faith.

However, when the tension between the tyrant Arabs in the north and the minority christian tribes in the South escalates into a civil war, his life changes to one of constant fear and panic. The adults in the village know that it t only a matter of time before the Civil War reaches their village; however, they soon realize there is no place for them to run.

One night when the northern soldiers, nicknamed “Djellabas” for their arab clothing, shelled and attacked his village. During the violent attack, John runs out of view from the soldiers and hides with the man whom he thought was his father. Once the attacks end, John finds himself alone and naked, with a family friend from his village that he had mistaken for his father named Abraham. The two flee into the scorching hot desert and begin to walk east towards ethiopia to find safety.

Along the way, John meets up with tens of thousands of other Lost Boys and Girls, the name given to all children of sudan who had lost their families in the civil war of sudan. Along their tiring journey, they face deadly threats every day such as disease, famine, rape, northern Government troops, hostile tribes, and

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