AmericAshis 2; the Roeper School and Jacob Atem

AmericAshis 2; the Roeper School and Jacob Atem

Birmingham, Michigan

October 4, 2009

Today was a very special day. The theme was stamping out hunger and the event was organized in a school founded in 1941, the Roeper school. The school has a strong community sense and has a lot of emphasis on art and strong relationships between the members of the school. What happened was a hundreds of parents and children coming together to package food that will be transported to Africa and especially to refugee camps. It was fun to see and such a positive atmosphere.

There were 4 guest speakers; Dr Tim Page, Dr Mary Ann from MSF USA, Jacob Atem and myself. It is about Jacob I would like to tell you a little more. My first meeting with him was in an Ethiopian restaurant in Ann Arbor, Michigan. He was a 23 year old student with a very special life story. As he grew up in Southern Sudan one day his life was radically changed. He went to herd his cows when he was about 5 and when he returned his sister had been kidnapped and some of his relatives had been killed. From that day he was on the run. Fleeing janjaweed, crocodiles, lions, hunger, thirst, malaria, whooping cough, Antonovs, despair. For months he walked until finally he and a group of several ten thousands of young boys (the Lost Boys) reached Ethiopia. There the Government of Sudan could no longer chase them.

For some years he and his friends lived in relative peace in the camp and then one horrible day the regime changed in Ethiopia and all the young boys were forced to leave Ethiopia back into the war zone called Southern Sudan. As they crossed the border river several thousand boys drowned, got eaten by crocodiles or got shot either by Ethiopian, either by Sudanese troops. This time their trip led to Kenya. For once a good thing happened in the camp, several thousand of them were invited to come to the USA as refugees starting in 1998.

Over the last few years many of the Lost Boys have become friends. In the evening Jacob, who is an American citizen since some months to percussion show at Oakland University. In fact the event was called Rhythm and Race & Percussion Stories. Jacob came up the stage at one point to tell his story and how his sister today is still living in slavery in Northern Sudan. His dream is to free her again. Besides this ambition he has also raised 90000 dollar to set up a health care center in his home village called Maar. I am sure to visit this health clinic once it has been set up. Today we spent discussing which drugs are essential drugs, where to purchase these drugs and who can prescribe them. If you want to read more about Jacob and his great vision look at: http://www.sshco.org.

Namaskar,

Ashis Brahma