God Grew Tired of Us

I have really enjoyed being able to read a lot more now that I am taking the bus to work. In fact, in the past two weeks I have finished two books, which is more than I have in the past six months. I absolutely loved my latest book, God Grew Tired of Us by John Bul Dau. It is the true story of a Lost Boy, a boy from Sudan who grew up pretty much an orphan in a refugee camp along with thousands of other lost boys who had been separated from their families during the civil war in Sudan.

This made me so grateful for what I have. Peace, family, clothes, food and water. It also made me very sad to hear about what these little boys had to go through. They basically had to raise themselves and take care of the even smaller children. The author was about thirteen when we was separated from his family after his village was attacked. He made his way to a refugee camp and was soon put in charge of a thousand boys. He made sure they had shelter (if at all possible), had food to eat, and that they got medical attention when they got sick. And their ordeal wasn't over once they had trekked hundreds of miles across their country to the refugee camp. The refugee camp was still attacked and forced to move, the entire group of over 20,000 boys (and a much smaller amount of girls). Unfortunately, many of the boys did not survive.

One of my favorite parts was when the author gets chosen to come to America. It was really fun to read about his first exposure to American technology and culture as a firsthand account. I laughed when I read about his first reaction to showers and grocery stores. I was angry to hear about him getting fired from his minimum wage job after following the rules, but crossing a few key people. And I really loved seeing how he has been able to help his friends in Sudan, even making $7.00 an hour. The book really gave wonderful insight into the culture and cultural thought process of the Dinka (John's tribe) I would definitely recommend this book, and if you don't have time to read the book, then watch the documentary by the same title. (Which I have yet to see, hopefully sometime this week, but it won the "Grand Jury Prize: Documentary" and "Audience Award" at the Sundance Film Festival in 2006 so it sounds like a safe recommendation.)