God Grew Tired of Us

I recently watched a documentary by Christopher Dillon Quinn called "God Grew Tired of Us: The Story of Lost Boys of Sudan." Like so many documentaries, it was as heartbreaking as it was funny and uplifting.

The documentary begins as John Bul Dau, Daniel Abol Pach, and Panther Bior are getting ready to relocate to the U.S after more than a decade in refugee camps. In one scene, one of the young men remarks that he has never "done" electricity before and he imagines "doing electricity is very hard." As the plane takes off (days or weeks later?), I realize that he is not only experiencing electricity for the first time, but is flying for the first time as well! It reminded me of the first time I flew and it made my heart swell with giddy anticipation topped with a little fear. I believed him when he exclaimed, "I am very scared now."

Once they were in states, I found myself caught up in the hardships and triumphs of their new lives. All three work several low-paying jobs, so they can afford an education and send money back to the camp. They miss their homeland and search for relatives lost in the civil war. At times, it was painful to watch them acclimatize to the U.S. because of the narrow-mindedness they experienced based on their skin color. At other times, I felt proud of the way Americans held their hands as they learned so many new things.

This is definitely a film worth watching.

About Lost Boys of Sudan: Lost Boys of Sudan is the name given by aid organizations to refer to the more than 20,000 boys who were displaced and/or orphaned after the Muslim government pronounced death to all males in the Christian south in 1987. 27,000 boys walked 1,000 miles to safety in Ethiopia and were then forced to flee again to Kenya after war broke out in Ethiopia. Click here to read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Boys_of_Sudan