There's No Heaven On Earth
Sudan, the largest country in Africa, has been engulfed in a civil war since the 1980s. The SPLA (Sudanese People Liberation Army) is fighting against the Arab government and this has led to the burning down of Southern Sudanese villages, the massacre of men. Women and girls were also taken away to be raped or to be sold in slavery. This has created many without any loved ones, and with nothing or no one to depend on other than themselves. Most of these people are the 20,000 orphaned boys who were nickname ‘Lost Boys’ that have spent their childhood trying to reach a ‘Heaven on Earth’. These boys have fled for their lives. For 6 to 10 weeks they walked under the blazing African sun, through the savanna. The skin of their feet were ripped off, many drowned while crossing the Gillo River. Some couldn’t manage to keep up with the lack of food and sleep and were left to lions and other wild animals to eat. Finally, they escaped Sudan and arrived at refugee camps at Kakuma, Kenya. There, they were given a chance to restart their lives in America, where they truly believed would be ‘heaven’.
The docurama, ‘The Lost Boys of Sudan’ focuses on the lives of Peter and Santino, two Lost Boys that have been given the chance to rebuild their lives in America. However, upon their arrival to America, they realized that America is no heaven, and that there is no heaven on earth. They found many problems in America that disrupted their flow of daily life. These problems mainly stemmed from the different lifestyles that they couldn’t wrap their heads around, their need of money, which always seemed to be lacking, as well as the discrimination they found in store for them.
From simple mud huts in the savannas of Africa, Peter and Santino find themselves in a 2-story house in a city: Houston, Texas. From this house they find many modern appliances that we regard as normal, such as stoves and other electrical appliances. They also stated that it was scary to live in the second floor because they were afraid that the floor would just collapse. Also, they quickly learned that holding hands was not acceptable in America like it was in Sudan (‘they’ll think you’re homosexual’). However, they overcame this by learning popular things in America such as basketball and baggy pants. Soon they also overcame the advanced technology, as seen when they made spaghetti after watching how from TV. They overcame the fact that the house would never fall on them, and tried to make a clean environment for themselves all the time.
Peter and Santino always seemed to be short of money. Santino could not get good jobs, when he first tries out his job at a plastic factory; we were shown him not working fast enough because he was unused to it. Later, we are told that this job only pays him 7 dollars an hour, a tiny amount for someone who must pay his rent, food and other conveniences with it. In the end, Santino is shown as struggling for money, because he was also pushed to send most to Sudan to help the rebels. Due to this lack of jobs, Peter left Houston for Kansas, where he heard there were more jobs. But even there, he could not get good jobs because he was finally attending high school. Peter complained about how they estimate too high on birth certificates. Because there were no proper hospitals in Sudan, Peter had to request for a new birth certificate, and he could finally become a junior in high school in Kansas, where he made many more friends. Peter seems to finally adjust to America as his friends helped him through and he even became popular.
Perhaps the most difficult obstacle Peter and Santino faced was the racism. Peter mentioned after riding on a bus, ‘People look at me, I feel odd. I feel shame.’ They also repeated how they were different from the African Americans, as they were brown, not black, like the Lost Boys were. They also mentioned ‘People are scared that you will beat them up because you are black.’ When Peter had a job in Wall-Mart, his boss made him work in the heat because she thought that he was used to the heat, being from Africa. He complained to his friends that although he may be used to the heat, he should not be made to work in it. However, some accepted them, like other African Americans, saying that their skin may be a little darker, but ‘we are the same’. Peter adjusted to this discrimination by joining a church with his white friends. He learned to speak English fluently, and in the end, graduated from high school.
Peter and Santino may only be 2 examples of the many Lost Boys that have tried to restart their lives in America, but it shows a good picture. I hope that many of the other Lost Boys get to be integrated into the American community like Peter was should the war go on. There may be many challenges to overcome, but after all, like Santino said, ‘America is no heaven, but it’s better than Sudan.’ Hopefully, one day, the war will be over and they will be safe again in their homeland.
The docurama, ‘The Lost Boys of Sudan’ focuses on the lives of Peter and Santino, two Lost Boys that have been given the chance to rebuild their lives in America. However, upon their arrival to America, they realized that America is no heaven, and that there is no heaven on earth. They found many problems in America that disrupted their flow of daily life. These problems mainly stemmed from the different lifestyles that they couldn’t wrap their heads around, their need of money, which always seemed to be lacking, as well as the discrimination they found in store for them.
From simple mud huts in the savannas of Africa, Peter and Santino find themselves in a 2-story house in a city: Houston, Texas. From this house they find many modern appliances that we regard as normal, such as stoves and other electrical appliances. They also stated that it was scary to live in the second floor because they were afraid that the floor would just collapse. Also, they quickly learned that holding hands was not acceptable in America like it was in Sudan (‘they’ll think you’re homosexual’). However, they overcame this by learning popular things in America such as basketball and baggy pants. Soon they also overcame the advanced technology, as seen when they made spaghetti after watching how from TV. They overcame the fact that the house would never fall on them, and tried to make a clean environment for themselves all the time.
Peter and Santino always seemed to be short of money. Santino could not get good jobs, when he first tries out his job at a plastic factory; we were shown him not working fast enough because he was unused to it. Later, we are told that this job only pays him 7 dollars an hour, a tiny amount for someone who must pay his rent, food and other conveniences with it. In the end, Santino is shown as struggling for money, because he was also pushed to send most to Sudan to help the rebels. Due to this lack of jobs, Peter left Houston for Kansas, where he heard there were more jobs. But even there, he could not get good jobs because he was finally attending high school. Peter complained about how they estimate too high on birth certificates. Because there were no proper hospitals in Sudan, Peter had to request for a new birth certificate, and he could finally become a junior in high school in Kansas, where he made many more friends. Peter seems to finally adjust to America as his friends helped him through and he even became popular.
Perhaps the most difficult obstacle Peter and Santino faced was the racism. Peter mentioned after riding on a bus, ‘People look at me, I feel odd. I feel shame.’ They also repeated how they were different from the African Americans, as they were brown, not black, like the Lost Boys were. They also mentioned ‘People are scared that you will beat them up because you are black.’ When Peter had a job in Wall-Mart, his boss made him work in the heat because she thought that he was used to the heat, being from Africa. He complained to his friends that although he may be used to the heat, he should not be made to work in it. However, some accepted them, like other African Americans, saying that their skin may be a little darker, but ‘we are the same’. Peter adjusted to this discrimination by joining a church with his white friends. He learned to speak English fluently, and in the end, graduated from high school.
Peter and Santino may only be 2 examples of the many Lost Boys that have tried to restart their lives in America, but it shows a good picture. I hope that many of the other Lost Boys get to be integrated into the American community like Peter was should the war go on. There may be many challenges to overcome, but after all, like Santino said, ‘America is no heaven, but it’s better than Sudan.’ Hopefully, one day, the war will be over and they will be safe again in their homeland.
Julia,
ReplyDeleteYour blog post effectively communicate what kind of hardships Peter and Santino faced in America as well as some of your ideas about them. They are supported by using evidence from Docudrama ‘The lost boys of Sudan’. Your paragraphs are well analyzed and encapsulated nicely with just enough necessary information for readers to know. For example, such as these ‘From simple mud huts in the savannas of Africa, Peter and Santino find themselves in a 2-story house in a city’ ‘Peter and Santino always seemed to be short of money’ ‘Perhaps the most difficult obstacle Peter and Santino faced was the racism’. These kind of specific details gives the readers good picture in their mind, and very easy to understand the problems right away. But in your conclusions, you stated that it would be good if many other lost boys also go to America. Would the other boys also be able to overcome difficulties just like Peter and Santino ? Wouldn’t it be wrong if so many Dinkas lose their original culture, and assimilate into American culture? Re-starting their life as an American?