Essential Questions

1. Who are the Lost Boys of Sudan and what is their story?

2. What can we learn from those who have survived the greatest tragedies?

3. How can opportunities arise through challenges?

4. How can making art help in times of crisis?

Learning Intentions Upon completing this Module, students will:

1. Describe Sudan’s history, and geography in relation to the civil war;

2. Interact with digital storytelling as a learning tool;

3. Employ art as an aesthetic tool to communicate important historical and contemporary events;

4. Recognize differences between learning through reading text versus hearing a firsthand oral account; 

5. Understand how to employ art to raise self and others’ awareness, and promote action toward positive change;

6. Reflect on what it means to be a refugee and on the struggles they face; 

7. Discuss, analyze, and provide meaningful feedback on peers’ creative work.

Success Criteria

1. I can retell the story of the Lost Boys, creating more understanding, and compassion for them and other refugees.

2. I will identify and use my talents to help others.

3. I will look for opportunities in challenges I face.

Learning Outline

This 3-hour and 30 min module is based on Atem's story and called Finding Home: The Journey of a Lost Boy of Sudan. It can be taught as a whole learning experience, or in chosen sections as time allows:  

• 10 minutes: Launch Activity–  Pre-Viewing: Part 1: Introduction to the History and Geography of the Dinka Tribe in South Sudan

• 15 minutes: While Viewing– Part 1: Finding Home: The Journey of a Lost Boy of South Sudan 

• 15 minutes: Post-Viewing– Part 1: ‘Drawing Out’ the Story

• 10 minutes: Pre-Viewing – Part 2: Mid-Journey Reflection

• 20 minutes: While Viewing– Part 2: Finding Home: The Journey of a Lost Boy of South Sudan 

• 10 minutes: Post-Viewing– Part 2: ‘Drawing Out’ the Story

• 5 minutes: Launch Activity– Part 3: What Does it Mean to be a Refugee?

• 17 minutes: While Viewing– Part 3:  Finding Home: The Journey of a Lost Boy of South Sudan 

• 13 minutes: Post-Viewing– Part 3: ‘Drawing Out’ the Story

• 20-35 minutes: Demonstration– Lost Boys of Sudan WebQuest & Timelining

• 60 minutes: Making Connections–Arts Integration Project– Communicating Events & Experiences Through Art

Supplies for Pre-Viewing / Viewing Activity: 

• World Map and / or Map of Africa

• Markers, colored pencils, charcoal, or finger paint

• paper

Supplies for Demonstration Activity:

• Website: https://www.rescue.org/article/lost-boys-sudan

• Graphic Organizer: The Lost Boys of Sudan WebQuest PDF

Supplies for Arts Integration Activity: 

• Low-Tech Modality: 11 x 17 Paper or Poster Board and Markers

• High-Tech Modality: Adobe Express Timeline Maker (web-based software)

Launch Activity–Pre-Viewing: Part 1: Introduction to the History and Geography of the Dinka tribe in South Sudan

[10 min]

[Learning Intentions 1]

Procedures:

1. Ask students if any of them have met or interacted with any of the Lost Boys of Sudan. Discuss.

2. Hook: Ask students if they’re familiar with Peter Pan’s Lost Boys—characters in the J.M. Barrie novel Peter Pan who formed a family and took care of each other in Never-Never Land. Explain that there is a group of over 25,000 young Dinka men of South Sudan who ran away from a civil war. These young men trekked across sub-Saharan Africa in search of safety, and some eventually found homes in the United States. Relief workers called them the “Lost Boys” after the characters in the J.M. Barrie novel, and the media picked up on this; the group is now known collectively as “The Lost Boys of Sudan.” 

3. Tell Students: The Dinka of South Sudan mostly live along the Nile from Jonglei to Renk. Ask students to locate Sudan on a world map. Point out northern and southern Sudan. Point out the homeland of the Dinka—in southern Sudan in the Jonglei State along the White Nile. Explain to students that this civil war has a long history leading up to it.  Sudan was colonized by the British. When the British left in 1956, giving Sudan long-sought independence, the British transferred governing power to the Arabs in the North, leaving the indigenous Africans in the South subjugated to the new northern Sudanese regime. The conflicts between northern and southern Sudan, that continue today, were over civil rights, oil, and religion. 

4. Tell Students: We are going to learn more about the Sudanese civil war through the firsthand account of one of the Lost Boys, Atem Aleu.

5. Give students markers, colored pencils, charcoal, or finger paint.  Tell them they will now watch Part 1 of a 3-part video on Atem’s harrowing journey to Salt Lake, Utah. As they watch they will draw or paint what they hear and feel. For example, they can draw abstract designs representing emotions, or scenes of events as they unfold. The goal is to express what they hear and feel by drawing the Lost Boys’ story, learning about this national crisis that led to the community of Lost Boys now in Utah. 

While Viewing: Part 1: Finding Home: The Journey of a Lost Boy of South Sudan (13:24 min)

[15 min]

[Learning Intentions 1,2,3]

Procedures: 

1. Read the Unit and/or the Module introductions out loud to students. 

2. Play Video: Part 1: Finding Home: The Journey of a Lost Boy of South Sudan

3. Have students draw as they listen, either with colored pencils, markers, charcoal, or finger paint. 

Post Viewing: Part 1: ‘Drawing out’ the Story

[15 min]

[Learning Intentions 1,2,3,4]

Procedures:

1. Think-Pair-Share: In pairs, have students reflect and share their drawing with each other. Have each student ask the other questions about their drawing and take guesses at what parts of the drawing correspond with aspects of Atem’s story.

2. Review by asking students: 

   1. Why was it mainly young boys who fled when the village was attacked, and not girls or adults?  The young boys were in charge of tending the bulls and cows on the outskirts of the village near the forest. The girls and adults were in the village when it was attacked. Many were killed and some of the young girls were taken into slavery. The young boys ran east, in the opposite direction of the gunshots and never returned. 

   2. What did you learn about the South Sudanese Dinka culture?  Their geographic location; the importance of cows; the importance and style of their dance; that they were related to everyone in their village, etc. 

   3. How is listening to this firsthand story different from reading about it in a textbook? Makes it feel more real- humanizes the event; provides more detail; evokes more emotion; makes it more personal; invokes our responsibility to listen and act. 

   4. How do you empathize with Atem? What did you find most interesting, surprising, shocking so far in Atem’s story?  

Pre-Viewing: Video Part 2: Mid-Journey Reflection

[10 min]

[Learning Intention 1 ]

Procedures:

1. Hook: Show students a world map or map of Africa and ask them 

   1. Where were the lost boys walking from? South Sudan (Jonglei State)

   2. Where were the Lost Boys walking to? Ethiopia

   3. How long did they walk before reaching Ethiopia? About 3 months

   4. What challenges did Atem and others face? Family was killed; lost his home; many cousins and friends killed by wild animals; walked for months with no food, water, or shoes, etc. 

2. Tell Students: We are going to watch video Part 2. Part 2 starts when the surviving boys finally reach a refugee camp in Ethiopia. But they aren’t there long. Atem will explain why and share with you what happened next.  

3. Tell Students: Again, you will draw as you listen. Let the story inspire what you draw and anything goes. (If possible, have students use a different medium (eg. If they used markers to draw during Video Part 1, have them try colored pencils, charcoal, or finger paint).

While Viewing: Part 2: Finding Home: The Journey of a Lost Boy of South Sudan (18:55 min)

[20 min]

[Learning Intentions 1,2,3,5]

Procedures:

1. Play Video: Part 2: Finding Home: The Journey of a Lost Boy of South Sudan

2. Have students draw as they listen, either with colored pencils, markers, charcoal, or finger paint. 

Post-Viewing: Part 2: ‘Drawing Out’ the Story

[10 min]

[Learning Intentions 1,3,4,5,7]

Procedures: 

1. Think-Pair-Share: In pairs (have students find a different partner from Video Part 1) have students reflect and share their drawing with each other. Have each student ask the other questions about their drawing and take guesses at what parts of the drawing correspond with aspects of Atem’s story.

2. Ask students: 

   1. Why did Atem and the other ‘lost boys’ leave Ethiopia? A civil war broke out in Ethiopia and their refugee camp was attacked by rebels backed by the North Sudanese Government. The boys had to flee immediately with no belongings or food. 

   2. What killed over 10,000 boys after leaving Ethiopia? They had to cross the Gilo River and many boys didn’t know how to swim or were too weak by that point and drowned. Many were eaten by crocodiles. 

   3. The boys walked to Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya.  How did Atem deal with his trauma? He started to sketch and paint the story of what had happened to him. This helped him process the pain and loss he experienced. 

   4. How did Atem’s art help others? Atem’s art was noticed by UN workers who then gave him a job helping the Migration Officers understand the Lost Boys and Girls’ story. These migration officers were responsible for interviewing Lost Boys and Girls to determine if they were eligible for refugee status in the US. Through his paintings, Atem explained to these officers what all of these children had been through so that they better understood the level of trauma and why some Lost Boys and Girls couldn’t communicate their stories. 

   5. How do you empathize with Atem? What did you find most interesting, surprising, shocking so far in Atem’s story?  

Pre-Viewing: Part 3: What Does it Mean to be a Refugee?

[5 min]

[Learning Intention 5 ]

Procedures:

1. Hook: Ask Students: Who here has a story about being somewhere where the food was so different that you couldn’t, or could hardly eat it? 

2. Tell Students: We are going to watch video Part 3.  Part 3 starts with Atem getting on a plane for the United States and how the food on the plane triggered his trauma. It was the first of many things Atem had to adapt to as a refugee in the United States. 

3. Ask Students: 

   1. What does the term refugee mean to you? 

      1. Is located outside of the United States

      2. Is of special humanitarian concern to the United States

      3. Demonstrates that they were persecuted or fear persecution due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group

      4. Is not firmly resettled in another country

      5. Is admissible to the United States

   2. Imagine you were a refugee. What would be hardest for you?

4. Tell Students: Again, you will draw as you listen. Let the story inspire what you draw and anything goes. (If possible, have students use a different medium (eg. If they used markers to draw Video Part 1 or 2, have them try colored pencils, charcoal, or finger paint).

While Viewing: Part 3: Finding Home: The Journey of a Lost Boy of South Sudan (15:50 min)

[17 min]

[Learning Intentions 1,2,3,5,6 ]

Procedures:

1. Play Video: Part 3: Finding Home: The Journey of a Lost Boy of South Sudan

2. Have students draw as they listen, either with colored pencils, markers, charcoal, or finger paint. 

Post-Viewing: Part 3: ‘Drawing Out’ the Story

[13 min]

[Learning Intentions 1, 3, 6, 7]

Procedures:

1. What hurdles did Atem have to overcome once he arrived in the United States?  Had to support himself fully after only 3 months; didn’t know English that well; difficulty getting from place to place

2. How did Atem get on his feet in this new country? With the help of others: random acts of kindness, people such as Jean Irwin of the Art Council who helped him get his art into galleries, or others who helped him get into university, etc.

3. Ask Students: Atem tells us that helping others is his calling. What does he say about what it takes to help people? Helping is not about having money or having something to give to people. You can help people with an idea or vision. Share whatever you have with people. 

4. Atem leaves us with three things he hopes you will think about. What are those?  

1. Help others so they can then help others too.

2. There are many ways you can help. It isn’t about money. Find your talent, use your ideas and vision. 

3. There are a lot of opportunities in challenges. It is up to you to grab the opportunities.

5. How did Atem turn the immense challenges he faced into opportunity? Through painting, he not only helped himself process his trauma but he opened himself and his story to the world. He used his talent to connect with others. They in turn helped him make steps towards progress. All along he continued to prioritize helping others. He is even working with North Sudanese- the people who attacked him and killed his family. He says forgiveness is the right thing to do. 

Demonstration: Lost Boys of Sudan WebQuest & Timelining

[20-35 min]

[Learning Intentions 1,3,4,7]

Procedures:

1. Tell Students: In order to process all that you learned from Atem, we are going to record his story chronologically into a timeline. 

2. Tell Students: To get you started we will do a ‘WebQuest.’  Using the article, Lost Boys of Sudan: https://www.rescue.org/article/lost-boys-sudan record major dates and events of their harrowing war experience on the The Lost Boys of Sudan WebQuest PDF graphic organizer. 

3. Now fill in any other events that you remember hearing from Atem’s firsthand account. 

4. Ask Students: Did the article cover it all? What did you add from Atem’s story that wasn’t covered in the article? How do you think watching Atem tell the story enhanced your understanding of the Lost Boys’ experience?

5. Tell students: (Optional) Now turn your webquest dates and descriptions into a timeline. Feel free to add any illustrations or extras to your timeline. 

1. Low Tech Option: A poster board with markers to draw out the timeline

2. High Tech Option:  Adobe Express Timeline Maker (free web-based software)

6. Share and Compare: Have a few students share their timelines and discuss as a class. 

Communicating Events &  Experiences Through Art

[60 min]

[Learning Intentions 3,5,7 ]

Procedures:

1. Tell the students: Atem started sketching and then painting what happened to him starting when he was only 5 years old when his village was attacked and he fled barefoot for 3 months to Ethiopia. Painting helped him work through his severe trauma. 

2. His paintings took on another purpose once he was noticed by a Kakuma Refugee Camp UN worker. Atem was given a job where through his paintings, he communicated the Lost Boys’ and Lost Girls’ traumatizing story to Migration Officers. These officers were in charge of interviewing Lost Boys and Girls and based on the interview they would decide whether they qualified for refugee status in the United States. 

3. This interview was very tough. One mistake and the Lost Boys and Girls would be turned down. 

4. Atem therefore needed to make sure that the Migration Officers understood what the Lost Boys and Girls had gone through. That because of the heat and lack of water, they had to walk at night and were attacked and killed by lions, packs of wild dogs, and crocodiles. That even neighboring villagers and north sudanese soldiers shot and killed them or kidnapped them and often made them into child soldiers. That they had seen so much death, and so many of them starved to death. Atem’s paintings told the story of the Lost Boys and Girls that so many of them, due to severe trauma, were unable to speak themselves.  

5.  Atem’s art helped the officers doing the interviews better understand the situation and approach the interview process with more compassion towards the young survivors they were interviewing. 

6. For our integration project you are going to make some art that tells others about something significant you have experienced. It can be any kind of experience: maybe a moment of success in your life; maybe a time when you were scared, excited, exhausted, creative, disappointed, etc. It can be any kind of art: sketch, painting, graffiti, 3-D construction, music, dance, written narrative, a poem, a puppet, etc.  Consider including a timeline of dates and events that led up to or were part of your event. (To help students get ideas, have them think about objects in their bedroom. Do any of those objects have a story behind them?)

7. Encourage students to identify how telling their story can help others. 

8. Hold a show and tell where students share their artwork and the story behind it. How can their story help others? 

9. As a class, discuss the power of firsthand accounts and art to convey meaningful events and experiences. 

Invite students to “dig deeper” on these topics by providing additional options for research and reflection on the Lost Boys of Sudan. 

Blog Posts

Videos

Lost Boys of Sudan Trailer (Documentary 2003) Lost Boys of Sudan is a feature-length documentary that follows two Sudanese refugees on an extraordinary journey from Africa to America. Orphaned as young boys in one of Africa's cruelest civil wars, Peter Dut and Santino Chuor survived lion attacks and militia gunfire to reach a refugee camp in Kenya along with thousands of other children. From there, remarkably, they were chosen to come to America. Safe at last from physical danger and hunger, a world away from home, they find themselves confronted with the abundance and alienation of contemporary American suburbia.

Books

Graphic Novel: 

Echoes of the Lost Boys of Sudan (by James Disco) Four child refugees of Sudan civil war recount their unforgettable story of survival and escape. 

Novel: A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park (ages 10-12) In 1985 southern Sudan is ravaged by war. When Salva's village is attacked, he must embark on a harrowing journey that will propel him through horror and heartbreak, across a harsh desert, and into a strange new life.

Lesson Plans

Art Therapy Websites

100 Art Therapy Exercises - Easy to execute art activities to integrate into your classroom.

TED Talk

Dinka Musician Emmanual Jal: The Music of a War Child- Riveting TED Talk by Emmanual Jal where he tells his story (weaving in poetry and a live performance) of becoming a child soldier and being saved by an amazing woman. 

Lost Boy John Dau Finds His Purpose

Interview

Interview with Emmanual Jal: About survival, human nature, and his movie role next to Reese Witherspoon. 

Films

God Grew Tired of Us (2006) Three young men from Sudan embark on a journey to America after years of wandering Sub-Saharan Africa in search of safety.

The Good Lie (2014) A group of Sudanese refugees, given the chance to resettle in the U.S., arrive in Kansas City, Missouri, where their encounter with an employment agency counselor forever changes all of their lives

Lost Boys of Sudan (2003)  A documentary film by Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk about two Dinka boys from Sudan, Santino Majok Chuor and Peter Nyarol Dut, who reached the United States after fleeing the civil war in their country.

*There are free movie guides on Teachers Pay Teachers: LINK

News Articles

Lost Boys Inspire local art