God Grew Tired of Us

John Bul Dau, who also goes by the name Dhieu-Deng Leek, was born in Sudan during a rare peaceful period in 1974. However, in 1987 his village Duk Payuel was attacked by Arab soldiers from the north, and his life was changed forever. He became known as one of the Lost Boys, a group of roughly 20,000 young boys, mostly under the age of 12, who walked over 1,000 miles to seek refuge from Sudan’s civil war. Although the Muslim north was hoping to establish Sharia law throughout the entire country, John clung to his Christian faith to get through the most difficult parts of his journey.

Dau grew up with five full siblings, although his father had 18 children from different wives. When Dau was separated from his family on the night of the attack, he assumed that they had all died, although he always held on to hope that they might be alive. While he reunited with many of his family members after nearly 15 years of separation, many of the Lost Boys weren’t as lucky. In the Introduction Dau explains that although he may be just one Lost Boy with a familiar story, he hopes that telling his story will bring awareness to his cause and make Africa and America better places to live.

After spending much of his young life in various refugee camps, Dau relocated to America in his early twenties. Once there, he worked long hours to support himself and his relatives who were still in Africa. He also sent money back to his friends still in the refugee camps, to make their lives better and show them that they weren’t forgotten. A driving question in his life was always “Why him?” Why did he get to pursue a future in America while so many of his friends were stuck in the uncertainty and hopelessness of Kakuma?

This continual questioning led him to pursue a college education so he could use his knowledge to influence those in power to change policies and laws to better serve the powerless in Sudan. He also organized the Lost Boys in America into the Duk County Association, a group dedicated to rebuilding their home region through improved education and health care incentives. Dau also helped found the Sudanese Lost Boys Foundation, which raised money to help Lost Boys in America attend college. In 2007 Dau created the John Dau Foundation, which raised funds to create a health care system in Duk County.