Radio, Film, and Web Reports

Radio

NPR’s Scott Simon profiles a Sudanese community in Portland, Maine. In this fascinating radio segment, he interviews locals and some of the 2,000 new immigrants to discuss the Sudanese’s acclimation to the areas culture and climate.

Film

  • Documentary filmakers Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk produced a feature-length, critically acclaimed documentary that follows two Lost Boys on their journey from Africa to America. Learn more about the movie on their site: www.lostboysfilm.com
  • Winner of both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, God Grew Tired of Us explores the indomitable spirit of three “Lost Boys” from the Sudan who leave their homeland, triumph over seemingly insurmountable adversities and move to America, where they build active and fulfilling new lives but remain deeply committed to helping the friends and family they have left behind.
  • Hundreds of people are now drinking clean water in Southern Sudan because of the efforts of Louisville-based Nadus Films and its partner organization, SEED.  Future trips to Sudan to assist with water purification, medical needs, education, and church development are being planned.  Nadus is wrapping up production of a feature-length documentary, “The New Sudan.”  View a trailer, arrange a screening, or purchase the film at  www.nadusfilms.com.
  • “The Didinga Hills” features a six-minute on-site video of a church-building project based in Nagishot, Sudan. In addition to showing the lush and beautiful forested region of the Didinga Hills, the video also reflects the musical traditions of the Didinga people.

On the Web

Since the arrival of the Lost Boys in 2001, the web has been an invaluable resource for learning more about conflict and rebuilding efforts in Southern Sudan and following the progress of Sudanese immigrants in their new homes. The following list of links is useful, but by no means complete.

News Sources on the Web

Many people have asked, “Whatever happened to the ‘Lost Girls’ of Sudan?” As the stories and videos from Mapendo International’s Web site reveal, fewer than 100 female refugees from Sudan were admitted to the United States with the approximately 4,000 young men. Many Sudanese girls were placed with foster families in the Kakuma refugee camps, and those families usually forced the girls into arranged marriages at age 15 in exchange for a dowry. Read about some of the lucky ones who made it to America. Go to www.mapendo.org and click on Refugee Information/Sudanese Women at Risk.

  • Blogrunner is a service from The New York Times that automatically monitors world-wide news articles and blog posts to track news events as they develop across the Web. Read up follow the latest in Sudan.
  • The BBC News’s Africa desk does an excellent job bringing news of Sudan—and the rest of the continent—to an English-speaking audiences.
  • IRIN on Sudan , a project for the UN Office for Coordination of Human Affairs, offers articles, radio dispatches, videos, and photos about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in South Sudan.
  • Human Rights Watch focuses on human rights violations in Sudan.
  • The Sudan Tribune offers “plural news and views” on Sudan.

Regional Lost Boys Websites