Subject of ‘Lost Boys’ documentary will speak at screening to raise funds for African health clinic

Subject of ‘Lost Boys’ documentary will speak at screening to raise funds for African health clinicApril 02, 2007SU News ServicesSUnews@syr.edu

John Bul Dau, the “Lost Boy” from southern Sudan who is the subject of the award-winning documentary “God Grew Tired of Us,” will be the featured guest at a screening of the film on Friday, April 13, at Grant Auditorium. This event has been sold out.

Discounted parking is available for $3.50 in the Irving Garage on the SU campus. Funds raised at the event will be donated to Dau’s project, a health clinic being build in his native Duk County, Sudan.

Dau was relocated to Syracuse in 2001 from a refugee camp in Kenya. He had fled the civil war in Sudan as a 12-year-old in 1987, wandering through the desert for years with 30,000 other homeless children who came to be known as the “Lost Boys.” The children faced starvation, mutilation and bombings as they traveled barefoot over 1,000 miles of desert, and many didn’t survive. “God Grew Tired of Us” chronicles the lives of three of the young men, as they are rescued from a refugee camp in Kenya and relocated to the United States. Directed by Christopher Quinn and narrated by actress Nicole Kidman, the film won two first-place awards at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.

Dau, who recently became a U.S. citizen, is pursuing a bachelor’s degree at the Maxwell School and The College of Arts and Sciences, as a part-time student through University College. As the president of the American Care for Sudan Foundation, Dau has undertaken a major project to build a health clinic in his native Duk County, in southern Sudan. Volunteers from the First Presbyterian Church in Skaneateles have been in Africa working on the building of the clinic and will be present the evening of April 13 to share their experiences. Proceeds from the event will fund the building and the clinic’s operation. A $100,000 donation to the project was recently given by actors Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Pitt served as an executive producer for the film, which has opened in selected theaters across the United States.

National Geographic recently published “Hope is Never Lost,” a memoir Dau wrote about his experiences in Africa and the United States. Copies of the book will be available for sale at the April 13 screening, which Dau will sign at the buyer’s request.

Last fall, Dau was recognized as a “40 Under 40” honoree, which showcases young leaders in the greater Syracuse community. In January, Dau was saluted with a 2007 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Unsung Hero Award from Syracuse University.

“An Evening with John Dau” is co-sponsored by University College and the Maxwell Citizenship Education Learning Community.