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A friend of mine who has older kids recommended the book God Grew Tired of Us (by John Bul Dau with Michael S. Sweeney) as a good book for teens to read. She said it fascinated her kids and made them more grateful for what they have.
I’m always glad for another tool in my daily ‘count your blessings’ campaign, so off I went to amazon for the book. I found that the book had the exact same effect on me as it did my friend’s children. It is the story of John Bul Dau, who was driven from his village in Sudan in 1987 at the age of 13. He spent years in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya, coming to America in 2001.
The hardship he endured was incredible. The primitive conditions described in the book made me subconsciously think that this book must be set many years ago. Each time an actual date was mentioned, it was jarring to my mind to realize this had occurred very recently.
I haven’t had a lot of time to read lately. Most of what I’ve started in the last month or two, I haven’t actually found time to finish. This book was not one I could walk away from. It is a gripping, fast-moving tale written in an accessible way.
I was intrigued by the mentions of Ethiopia, and also by the view into the psyche of a child who has lost everything. And I rejoiced when after great trial, John Bul Dau was able to find his own happy ending in America.
Though this book wasn’t entirely about Ethiopia, it was an intriguing glimpse into Africa, the UN, civil war, transplanted Africans, and refugee issues. I found it to be a worthwhile read, and one that I will be passing on to my teenagers to read.
Other worthwhile books about Ethiopia:
On The Move
Ethiopian Folk Tales
There is No Me Without You
Related to that same topic is Dave Eggers’ “What is the What?” – an excellent and unforgettable book. It’s a fictionalized account of the true story of one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, Valentino Achak Deng.
http://www.amazon.com/What-Dave-Eggers/dp/1932416641
Thanks for your great post about John Dau’s book. I have been very fortunate to be able to work with John helping him raise money for the clinic he is building in Sudan. He is a great role model for all children, but particulary for those of us with African children.
While my own son is to young to read the book (he is about to be 5 and from Ethiopia) we have blessed to have John become part of his life.
John works with me at Direct Change, which was created to help funds African based projects. You can read more about John’s work at http://www.directchange.org/sudan . Direct Change provides online fundraiasing tools to volunteer supporters and has recently expanded to raise money for groups working in Ethiopia including AHope and AAI’s Nazret program.
I just googled the title and found that there will be a movie coming soon, a documentary. It looks good…plus there will be great U2 music in it!
Here is the link to the trailer:
http://www.godgrewtiredofus.com/trailer.html
The movie was already in theaters, but will be on DVD this summer.