Where do We Belong?

Sudan has been a Country at war for over 50 years. Being the biggest country in Africa it has many tribes and villages, but one tribe, which arguably has taken the hardest hit during the war, is the Dinka tribe. The documentary "The Lost Boys of Sudan" follows the story of two Dinka boys, Peter and Santino who where part of the Kakuma refuge camp in Kenya. Having fled from there village due to an attack, the Dinka boys began there journey across Africa. While travelling miles, and miles on foot there encountered many obstacles such as: starvation, exhaustion, heat, and the loss of friends and family. After fleeing Ethiopia, the boys found shelter at the Kakuma refuge in Kenya.

After spending 11 years at the refuge camp Peter was chosen to migrate to America in the hopes of a better future. He had to face many different difficulties during his time in America and deal with all the new cultures and life styles. When he first moved to Houston, the US offered to pay his rent for 4 months, until he got settled in and adjusted. But, soon after he was facing issues with getting enough money and paying the bills as well as feeding himself. Because Peter didn’t have much educational background he had to work in low pay jobs, so paying for his rent, food and clothes was a struggle from him. Also he was expected to send money back to his family in Sudan, so he also faced a lot of pressure form them. The area that Peter was staying in was a very low class neighborhood, so there were many crimes happening, like robberies and threatening. Because Peter was so obliged to helping his Country, her decided that Houston was not the best place for him to stay so he moved to Kansas City. There, Peter managed to get into high school, which was good for his education but he also had trouble trying to go to school every day, work and on top of that do homework every night. Also at school he faced many difficulties with culture race and all the English. Most of the population of his school was American’s and he was different from them so he had some trouble fitting in. At first he did not understand their culture and they did not understand his culture so it was hard for him to make friends. Also it was a challenge for him to get used to all of the English used in his school and community. As Peter got acclimated with the American system he also had to try and keep him culture and beliefs intact. Before they left for America one of the elders told them always remember Sudan and there culture.

Peter tried to deal with the massive culture shock in different ways. First when he started working he got used to the technology and the system people worked in such as: when to eat, when to work and when to socialize. How freely the people ate was a big shock to Peter because in his culture they only ate twice a day and sparingly. He also tried to fit in better by wearing clothes that every one wore such as: baggy jeans and t-shirts and picking up some of the slang that was in the American culture. When Peter started school he began to get more adjusted to the culture by hanging out with different people, attending social gatherings and joining activities such as basketball. By taking part in daily activities that the American people took part in, helped Peter get assimilated into the American culture.