2.4 Cross-cultural Ethnography (part 2): The Lost Boys of Sudan

ANNOUNCEMENT: This Friday will be an Asynchronous lesson.  Please plan to complete the lesson via Google Form but you do NOT need to be physically in class.

REMINDER of ACTION ITEMS: Please read the two readings below for our next class. Both of them are about culture.  

Kohl's Values Americans Live By

First, the Kohl reading is about American culture.  It was written to help emigrants arriving in America adjust to cultural values that they may not be familiar with.  For Americans, the reading provides interesting insight into the culture that surrounds us.  Like fish who have never questioned water, we are engrossed in our cultural values so ubiquitously that we don't realize it.  This reading will help us take a step back and view the ways that American culture shapes those within it.  As you read, think about examples from your own life that illustrate the values Kohl highlights. 

Buettner's Thrive 

Second, the Thrive reading is from a book by Dan Buettner.  Buettner travelled the world as sort of an ethnographer writing about people all over the globe.  In Thrive, Buettner focuses on the places in the world that report the highest levels of happiness.  The book focuses on a few happiness anomalies (Blue Zones) around the world: Denmark, Singapore, Mexico and San Luis Obispo (USA). This excerpt is Buettner's concluding chapter in which he tries to make sense of what the places all have in common and what we can learn from them to make our lives happier. As you read, look for areas of happiness that you had not thought about.  Make a note of things that Buettner suggests that you can do right now in your own life as well as things you want to do as you get older.

Today's Lesson:

For the second half of the ethnographic documentary, please turn your attention toward the cultural values that are shaping the boys' lives in America.  How is life in America different and difficult? In what ways was the refugee camp easier/healthier for them?

If you are absent, please watch from one of the available sources:

Here is the movie on Amazon Prime

Here it is on Watchdocumentaries.com

Here it is on Tubi

Here it is on Youtube (free with ads)

Other Resources:

This post explains more about immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers and the 2017-2023 crisis at the border.

Here is John Bul Dau's Foundation website which also includes information about his memoir and ways that they are serving Africa and how you can help.

Here is John Bul Day speaking at Google about his life, his foundation and the Lost Boys.

Here is his Ted Talk:

Lost Boys on NPR 2007.

From PBS the documentary, The Day I Had To Run details the story of the Lost Boys.

60 Minutes part 1

60 Minutes part 2

Seeds of Sudan

International Rescue Committee timeline of the Lost Boys

March 2016 South Sudan Faces Another Civil War
Sudan broke apart into two nations; Sudan and South Sudan.  South Sudan is where the Lost Boys in the movie returned to. Unfortunately, South Sudan faces a new civil war within itself.  

February 2024 Lost Boy Signs 3 Year NBA Contract

Duop Reath, NBA player for the Portland Trailblazers, was born in Sudan before moving to the Kakuma refugee camp when he was young due to the war. He talks about growing up in the camp and his journey in basketball. 

World Relief

International Aid organization HQ'd in Chicago suburbs that helps resettle refugees

Immigrants choose to leave but refugees are forced.

The road to refugee:

Flee homeland, leave everything behind, find temporary shelter (avg stay is 5 years) sometimes living in the forest for an extended time

Interview with UNHCR; often involves reliving the events

Wait for acceptance and nation to accept you

The US resettles 50-60% of worldwide refugees

If accepted, go wherever you are sent and be prepared to pay back airfare costs!

26 million refugees worldwide.

50-80,000 refugees accepted to the US each year

$900 given to each refugee to make it through the first 3 months!

IL is 7^th largest recipient of refugees by state in the US

UNHCR – US Dept state – IOM Travel logistics – Resettlement Services

World Relief Services:

• Initial resettlement
• Employment Services
• Education Services/ESL
• Refugee Counseling Services
• Youth Services
• Volunteer and Church Relations
• Citizenship and Immigration Legal Service

Challenges:

• Educational factors: ESL and lagging academics
• Family and Cultural Dynamics:
• Parent-child role reversal
• Lack of parental involvement in students’ lives
• Lack of parental involvement in school
• Different parenting styles and discipline
• Past and Current Trauma/stress
• Identity crisis

IL refugees:

• Bhutanese
• Ethnic Lhotsampa
• 108,000 people displaced
• Imprisoned, abused, denial of human rights
• Iraqi
• Very different from Bhutanese
• Recent refugees, short term
• Kids have seen and experienced more turmoil than Bhutanese

Viator House

Also in the Chicago suburbs is the Viator House of Hospitality

Home for male young adults seeking asylum