After being lost for 20 years, Chol Dongwei is finally going home.
Dongwei is a part of a group of refugees from war-torn Sudan known as the Lost Boys. Nearly 22 years after coming from Sudan, he is going home to help promote development and minister to the people in his village.
“I really want to be in the field and try to make a connection with people,” Dongwei stated. “I will try to advocate for them and find the help they deserve.”
Civil war broke out in Sudan in 1983 and escalated in 1987. That was when Dongwei’s village of Panriang was bombed and he was forced to flee with his older cousin, he said.
Dongwei was only six years old and had to wander naked for three months before reaching a refugee camp in Ethiopia. Two years later, war erupted in Ethiopia forcing Dongwei to flee to northern Kenya.
“Life was really difficult in Kenya. We only received one meal a day,” Dongwei said. “The only good thing was the U.N. gave us education.”
Shortly after arriving in Kenya, Dongwei went back to Sudan and joined the rebel army. He was only 11 years old, but really wanted to help out anyway he could.
“We weren’t really needed, but the commander really appreciated our help,” he said.
But his time in the military was shortened after he suffered a concussion and hearing loss in a bombing. After he recovered he was sent back to Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya.
In 2000, when he was 17 years old, he was approved to come to the United States. During this time, Dongwei lived with a foster family and attended technical school. In 2006 he met another Lost Boy who knew one of his older cousins. Dongwei was able to get in touch with him and that led to getting into contact with his older brother.
Dongwei is one of seven children in his family, all boys. According to Dongwei, he hasn’t seen his brothers in over 20 years. He has lost some of his immediate family, but he has a lot of relatives, he stated.
Only he and three of his brothers are still alive today. His father was a policeman who was killed in 1985 and his mother was killed in a bombing, along with his youngest brother, in 1990. One younger brother died of natural causes and the other was killed in the line of duty, he said. He plans to have a family reunion when he goes back.
“My first priority is to see all my brothers,” Dongwei said. “It would make it special for me to go back.”
The second reason he wants to go back is to assist in the development of his village. According to Dongwei, he wants to be an example of a Lost Boy who is returning to help Sudan.
“Locals don’t have basic services like schools, electricity, and good doctors. They have a poor hospital with poorly trained medical assistants,” he said. “I want to encourage a retired doctor to come help.”
Another problem hindering development in his village is the lack of education, according to Dongwei. He would like to start a youth ministry and encourage kids to go to school to possibly become doctors in the future, he said.
“There are commissioners who cannot read or write. How will they get anything done,” he said.
He plans to stay for three months to assess the situation first. If he sees a need for him to be there longer in order to help, he is up to the challenge, Dongwei said.
Reach the reporter at hly01@asu.edu.
