Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
Loading
SL![]()
author
Sandra Lindemann
Akoi Manyiel Guong is the founder of the Seed of Hope Foundation
(SeedHF), an organisation established to support the building of health and
education facilities in his home village of Patuenoi in ...view moreAkoi Manyiel Guong is the founder of the Seed of Hope Foundation
(SeedHF), an organisation established to support the building of health and
education facilities in his home village of Patuenoi in the state of Jonglei,
South Sudan.
A member of the Sudanese Lost Boys Association of Australia,
Akoi has a special interest in Sudanese youth in both South
Australia and South Sudan.
The warm, still night was shattered by the sound of gun shots.
I woke up with a gasp. Womens voices shrilled the alarm: Wui-
Wuuui! Wui-Wuuui! Wui-Wuuui! Government soldiers were
attacking our village!
The whole village was lit up in fl ames. I could hear people shouting
and screaming. The panicked cattle were crashing through their
pens, bellowing with fear.
My mates and I fl ed swiftly into the surrounding forest. Soon we
were far away. The shouts and screams and gunshots faded into
the background, but still we continued to run, frantically, blindly,
into the night.
So begins the journey of 10-year-old
Dinka boy, Akoi Manyiel Guong. From
the warmth and security of his family, he
fl ees to Ethiopia where he joins thousands
of other boysthe Sudanese lost boys
before becoming a child soldier, a fugitive,
and ultimately a refugee seeking safety on
the other side of the world.
In the course of his journey, Akoi loses
everything and yet, at the same time, fi nds
his destiny.view less