The story of Lost Boy James Malou
by Dominic Russ
James Malou has a quick smile that could put anyone at ease. Though in his early 30s, there’s something young and jubilant in his expressions, as if nothing has been lost from this so-called “Lost Boy of Sudan.” Indeed, what a comfort it must be for the uprooted and persecuted to encounter his grin after a long trip across the water, which is Malou’s first task as a caseworker with Kentucky Refugee Ministries.
“It doesn’t pay (much),” explains Malou about his position at the nonprofit. “But if you see what you are doing, you are really changing lives. Because you are the first impression the refugees have — the way you pick them up from the airport; the way you take them to food stamp office; the way you orientate them to their new apartment — they will remember it the rest of their lives. When I came here, somebody did it for me, and I still remember.”
The rest of Dominic Russ’s enlightening profile of Lost Boy and founding member of the Sudanese Refugee Education Fund James Malou is available in the Leo online.
(Originally appeared in the LEO on June 30, 2010.)