A former Lost Boy of Sudan inspires students in the USA with his tale of survival and courage.
Jacob Atem told Waunakee Middle School students the amazing story of his long journey escaping civil war in South Sudan with approximately 20,000 other boys. Only half of those boys survived.
Atem was only six years old when he left his family to make the dangerous trek to refugee camps, avoiding death or military conscription in the late 1980s. The boys walked over 1,000 miles to a refugee camp in Ethiopia, and later to Kenya to escape strife in Ethiopia.
Atem shared his mantra from those days with the students, “I am powerful. I am strong. I am a leader.”
“I would never, ever wish this on you,” Atem softly told the students in an earnest voice. “But it’s to make you appreciate the life you have in this country.”
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