Lost Boy John Dau recalls 9/11

Sept. 11 is a day that will forever be remembered by Americans as the day the towers at the World Trade Center fell and the Pentagon was attacked. It is a day that has sadly become part of American history.
That day, though, hasn’t just affected Americans. John Dau, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, remembers it all too well.
“Sept. 11, when the United States was attacked, I was two weeks old in America,” Dau said at the Skaneateles Chamber of Commerce luncheon on Thursday, the seven year anniversary of 9/11.
When he heard that America had been attacked, Dau said he didn’t take it seriously. Then as he began to learn more, one thing went through his mind.
“Now America has been attacked because we are here, the Lost Boys of Sudan.”
As a young boy in Africa, he became accustomed to the fear of being under attack. When Dau was 13, his village in southern Sudan was attacked. From there, he and other boys went to Ethiopia, which was also attacked. Then the boys were attacked again when they left Ethiopia for another southern Sudan village. For several years they ran for their lives, only to have the lifestyle of an escapee hurt them as well.
“So many young boys were dying of diseases,” Dau said. “There was nothing to drink. We ate mud. Some people would drink human urine.”
At the age of 17, Dau was in the United States and was finally given the chance to get an education. It was then that he began learning his ABC’s and 123’s.
Two weeks after coming to the U.S., the World Trade Center was hit by terrorists.
“I think the Arab’s are following where we go,” Dau said. “It’s a campaign against people who love ... freedom.”
After years of seeing his fellow Sudanese die of disease, Dau was living in America, working various jobs, receiving an education and being free from a life of war and instability. Then he had the idea for a health clinic in Sudan, and the concept grew to reality with the help of his church.
“I see money from Americans for free, so I want this clinic to be free,” Dau said.
The John Dau Sudan Foundation took its first steps in May 2007 with the opening of the Duk Lost Boys Clinic. According to the pamphlet for the Koiye Miooc campaign — which is Dinka for “generous persons” — the foundation acts as the primary benefactor and overseer for the clinic, which has provided care to more than 5,000 patients since opening last year.
With the help of the Skaneateles Chamber of Commerce, Dau’s clinic will be able to help even more people. In May, the chamber held a golf outing, which president Dick Pitman said has grown since the outing began, and Dau was given a check for $8,000 to benefit the foundation during the chamber meeting.
“I want to thank everyone, for your generous donation will go to the clinic in south Sudan, Africa,” Dau said to chamber members.
According to Dau, based on the first year of having the clinic open, it will cost approximately $300,000 annually to fund basic clinic services. The Koiye Miooc campaign has been organized with the hope of reaching 1,000 people who are able to donate $25 a month, or $300 a year, which will make it possible for the foundation to keep the clinic up and running.
“Thank God for keeping me alive for I could be here today,” Dau said. “There are no generous people like Americans.”
Also during the chamber meeting, the Skaneateles Historical Society was provided with the balance of the funds raised during the golf outing, in the amount of $1,016.
The funds will be put toward the Creamery expansion. Bob Eggleston gave an overview of the work being done to the Creamery and a brief history of how the historical society came to be.
According to Eggleston, the large collection of artifacts and documents all started with a dozen people in the 1960s that shared a common interest of preserving local history.

CATEGORY: General Society
TAGS: Sudan, John Dau Sudan Foundation, Lost Boys of Sudan
EDITION: Skaneateles Press

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