'Lost Boy' John Dau to Speak at Champlain on MLK Day

Related Media

John Dau photo

• Sudan Foundation logo

BURLINGTON, VT (11/11/2009)(readMedia)-- John Bul Dau, recently named one of America's "Most Caring People," will be guest speaker at Champlain College's Martin Luther King Day observance on Jan. 18, 2010.

One of the storied "Lost Boys of Sudan," Dau is featured in Christopher Quinn's award-winning documentary, God Grew Tired of Us. Born in war-torn Sudan, Dau is one of 27,000 boys driven from their villages when the northern Arab government attacked the ethnic minority population of Southern Sudan in 1987. For the next five years, Dau led groups of displaced boys across Sudan for hundreds of miles facing starvation, disease, and violence. In 1992, he was placed in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya where he learned his ABCs and 123's at the age of 17. In 2001, Dau was selected to immigrate to the United States and settled in Syracuse, NY.

Since then, through his John Dau Sudan Foundation, Dau has raised $700,000 and returned to open a clinic in Southern Sudan, which has provided care for more than 25,000 patients, most of whom had never seen a doctor before.

According to Angela Batista, director of Champlain's Office of Diversity and Inclusion, the opportunity to bring Dau to Burlington is the result of a collaborative effort by many departments and divisions at the College. Dau's visit will include meetings with students, faculty and staff and a public lecture event open to the community on Monday, Jan. 18, 2010 at 6 pm.

"I believe this will be a great event for Champlain and the local community. We are truly grateful that John Dau will be here with us on Martin Luther King Day," Batista added.

Dau's efforts for social and political change have helped assure that his voice and the voice of the Sudanese is heard in the United States and around the world. According to Batista said. "He has become a successful national public speaker, focusing speeches on his life story and the importance of perseverance against all odds. His moving talks also focus on the importance of human rights and on ending the tragedy in Southern Sudan."

On Oct. 13, Dau was honored alongside Gen. Colin Powell and the Dalai Lama for being one of the most caring people in America at the non-profit Caring Institute's 2009 Caring Awards in Los Angeles. The Caring Institute's mission is to promote the values of caring, integrity and public service. It was founded in 1985 by Val J. Halamandaris after a meeting with Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

Champlain College, founded in 1878, offers "Education in Three Dimensions" - a distinctive educational approach to professionally focused majors, developing life skills and leadership based on critical and creative thinking. It has nearly 2,000 campus-based undergraduate students on campus and is ranked in the top tier of Best Baccalaureate Colleges in the North by 2009 America's Best Colleges, published by U.S. News & World Report.

To learn more about Champlain College, visit www.champlain.edu.

Background on John Dau:

John Bul Dau has experienced journeys in life that most people never imagine. Dau was born in war-torn Sudan, and in 1987, his village was attacked by government troops involved in the civil war between the Muslim-controlled government in northern Sudan and the non-Muslims in southern Sudan. The violence scattered his family, and Dau was forced to travel on foot for three months until reaching the relative safety of Ethiopia.

Dau stayed in a refugee camp in Ethiopia for four years, but when civil war broke out in the region, he was once again forced to flee. As one of thousands of "Lost Boys of Sudan," Dau wandered hundreds of miles and faced disease, starvation, and violence, until arriving in Kenya. While living in the Kenyan Kakuma refugee camp, he attended school for the first time and earned a prestigious Kenyan Certificate for Secondary Education in 2000. In 2001, he was brought to Syracuse, New York along with 140 other young Sudanese refugees.

Despite the initial culture shock women driving cars, huge stores filled with food Dau has succeeded in the United States and can proudly say that he is living the American dream. Not only was he able to bring his mother and sister from Sudan, but while working 60 hours a week as a security guard, he received an Associates degree from Onondago Community College. He is currently pursuing a degree in Policy Studies at Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.

Additionally, Dau is an experienced social entrepreneur. He has founded three non-profit 501(c)3 organizations. In 2003, he helped establish The Sudanese Lost Boys Foundation of Central New York which raised over $35,000 for books and medical expenses for Lost Boys living in the United States. In 2005, Dau was instrumental in founding the American Care for Sudan Foundation which solicited funds to build and operate the Duk Lost Boys Clinic in Southern Sudan. He has raised more than $400,000 for the clinic. Currently, Dau is the President of the John Dau Sudan Foundation which was founded in July of 2007 to develop health facilities that currently do not exist for most of the populations of Duk, Twic East and Bor South Counties in the State of Jonglei in Southern Sudan.

Dau's move to the United States and early experiences in the country are the subject of the film God Grew Tired of Us, which won the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. His memoir, also entitled God Grew Tired of Us, was released in January 2007 by National Geographic Press.

In his brief time in the United States, Dau has earned many awards for his public achievements and charitable work. He received a National Geographic's Emerging Explorers Award and was named a Volvo for Life Award finalist in the Quality of Life Category in 2008 which carried a contribution of $25,000 to the John Dau Sudan Foundation. As he continues to work to succeed in the United States he envisions a positive future for Sudan. He says, "I hope for my country to get out of war and secure a good government. I want Sudan to become a place where people are welcome and hope is restored."