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Children Affected by War Crimes

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Children that are affected by war crimes have their lives turned upside down but they never give up to reach the peace they always sought. Looking back at Disney’s Peter Pan the lost boys were those who fought off pirates and crocodiles before flying off to Never Never Land. The same goes for the youth in Africa where they sought refugee, and fled the camps by whatever means necessary. In the book What Is The What Valentino describes his journey to America to be a miracle, having gone through a dark road which he finally reached the light of. It was because of The Lost Boys Foundation that many lives have been turned around and children have been saved. During the civil war in Sudan in which over 2 million people had died, children were left orphaned; and were living in camps that weren’t run efficiently. Nearly 30,000 children left the camps on a journey to find a place to call home, they faced attacks from animals, starvation, illness’s, even attacks from Soldiers their, yet approximately 11,000 survived. The foundation has made dreams come through one change at a time. Many of these adolescents have not been exposed to what is so accustomed to us; spoons, forks, cell phones, and TV’s. “It’s a group that’s lost in time,” says Sasha Chanoff an American at the camp who prepares the children for their journey to America. The articles show that The Lost Boys Foundation is an effective organization that does their best to assist refugees.
According to Mary-Jayne Mckay CBS reporter, “Every Sunday, a plane arrives at the camp to take the boys from Kakuma to New York - and beyond. More than a thousand boys have taken this journey, and at least 3,000 more are slated to go. It's the largest resettlement of its kind in American history.” This is an amazing journey for these children who have seen their loved ones be tortured and seen their homes be ruined right before their eyes, have the opportunity to make a better life for themselves. There are thousands of children just like them who have traveled alonged this journey to reach to America, some unfortuneately don’t make it due to the hardships they face. "If you don't know how to swim, then you remain in that water," recalls Zachariah Magok. "We saw so many people who were just floating on the river." After arriving to America after a short period of time Valentino is robbed and felt helpless reminding him of the times in Sudan he says “you would not add to my suffering if you knew what I have seen.” (29) These boys adjustment and journey is not an easy one, as described in the article this isn’t a free trip here. They must pay the airfare back once they are settled and on their feet. Although the travelers get to come to America and be provided with a place to stay and given insurance, they still must get a job and decide what it is that they want to do since they will have to start paying rent and also reimburse the airfare from Africa to America. This comes as a struggle for these survivors, after having gone through all this hardship to get to where they are they now are under pressure to be on their own. But its no surprise that these children are able to do that after traveling for years through valleys, deserts, and across rivers this is a task they are able to accomplish.
Not only is there a Lost Boys Foundation but also an Alliance for the boys that are here in America, to offer more support than what is initially given to them. Working, paying rent, school fees, and the basic necessities are hard to come by since they must do everything on their own. (241) This organization offers help with tuition and books for those enrolled in school, so they don’t have to work and study at the same time. In the book Valentino mentions that there was speculation that Mary (founder of The Lost Boys) could be misusing donations and college admissions for the boys weren’t going as planned. (165) This was due to money being spent on various different events and activities for the boys. Showing the boys a different side to the world by having them interact and socialize kept their minds off of the terrors they had gone through in Sudan. Some of the boys became jealous of the ones who got to go to more events or be in the front row thinking that there was a game of favorites being played. (166)
In the novel What Is The What Valentino describes his life after coming to America difficult to adjust to. He’s fortunate that he was given the opportunity to go through a life changing event. Like many of the boys they work and go to school to change their life here in America, where they end up getting as little as two hours of asleep a night. The Alliance for the Lost Boys assists with this where they provide extra help for those who are not able to do so on their own. They have administered over a hundred medical treatments to these people. In conjunction to the Lost Boys this organization has helped a great deal to show that they want to give these boys a healthy life. Many need further assistance since they are not familiar with the language or require additional medical attention than what maybe provided. Since they have been malnutritioned extra attention is required to help them stay healthy and save their lives. The alliance has gotten donations from Bayer pharmaceuticals to help distribute medications for those in need.
Though the foundation to some may seem like there is a lack of organization involved as the boys that Valentino mentioned they do their best to provide for these boys. Giving them the chance to see a wonderful country that has rights were these boys are able to have a voice. The Lost Boys foundation is the organization that helped Valentino come to America where he was able to share his story with the world. Seeing what life was like for him through his eyes was an eye opener for many. He faced a few troubled times in America that he wondered why is this happening? “And after all this, I am still in America, and I am still on the floor of my own apartment, tied with telephone cord, still kicking the door.” (186) Describing that the feeling he had during the robbery was not much different then his time in Sudan. The struggle to adjust to the life here is difficult especially after the war they were involved in.

Works Cited

Eggers, Dave. What Is the What. New York: Vintage, 2007. Print.

Home - Alliance for the Lost Boys of Sudan. Web. 26 Sept. 2011. <http://www.allianceforthelostboys.com/home.html>.

Outreach Africa: Lost Boys Foundation. Web. 23 Sept. 2011. <http://www.lostboysus.org/index.htm>.

McKay, Mary-Jayne. "The Lost Boys." Www.cbsnews.com. Cbs, 11 Feb. 2009. Web. 23 Sept. 2011. <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/03/01/60II/main502594.shtml>.

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