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A Journey of Faith, Hope and Reunification in Bor/Jonglei, Sudan by Carol Francis-Rinehart |
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What began 5 years ago with a request from Reverend Sarah Berlin at
St. John’s Cathedral, Denver, to donate a bicycle to the “Lost Boys”
developed into my husband, Richard and me, becoming two of the many
“parents” of the “Lost Boys” in the Denver area. The invitation to bring a bicycle turned into a life changing commitment to assist the young men along with many others working in Denver through other churches, businesses, schools and resettlement agencies. I brought the bicycle to the cathedral one Sunday and ended up delivering it and four “Lost Boys” home. That is when I first met Isaac Khor Bher. Meeting with them for the rest of the afternoon, I was moved by their vulnerability, determination to learn (having been a high school teacher) and their deep faith in God.  These
past 5 years have been filled with tutoring, medical and dental
appointments, cooking and driving lessons, job placement, college
advisement, fundraising for education and being Mama Carol and Mr.
Richard to many of the young men. As they constantly proclaim, “We
are not lost boys, we are found men who were never lost from God.”Four years ago, Isaac shared a photo he had printed off the internet. “This is my father who is no longer alive.” We asked him how he found the photo of his deceased father. He said he discovered it while surfing the web with a colleague at work. Two years passed and one evening when I was attending Dinka language lessons at Isaac’s house, I noticed he still had the downloaded photo sitting on the table. I realized how precious this image was to him and suggested we contact the photographer who was listed on the by line of the photo. It was a photographer from the Washington Post. We called and emailed the Post and waited patiently for a reply. When we least expected it, the photographer called. I told her it would be very meaningful to Isaac if he could have a copy to frame and put in his apartment. The photographer had photographed Isaac’s father while in Magaletore Refugee camp near the Uganda border in 1997. She promised the photo and we waited. A month later Isaac called to say that he had received not only the photo of his father, but a photo of his mother whom he thought was killed in the war. “When I opened the envelope, I was shocked to see my mother’s photo. I didn’t know whether she was alive or not. After receiving the picture I learned she was alive and living in Southern Sudan in Bor Town.” I sat down with some of the other “parents” and friends who are close to Isaac and wondered how we could reunite him with his mother. A local television station aired the story of Isaac, and out of that several Denver friends had a fundraiser and raised the money for him to be reunited with his mother, Yar Ngong, in Sudan. On May 25, 2005 Isaac, Archdeacon Bol Deng from the Diocese of North Bor and I arrived in Nairobi where we were graciously hosted in the home of Majak D’Agoot and Angeth Acol De’Dut. We flew to Lokichokio, a town in northwest Kenya, not far from the Sudan border, where we found lodging at Afex B “Hotel California”. It has Internet access, three meals a day, tent accommodations with maid, laundry service, clean water and fan with either private or community showers. Pricing ranged from $25.00 to $45.00 a night. It was near the UN compound so security was great.  We
left Lokichokio in a Toyota Land Cruiser bound for Kakuma refugee
camp in northern Kenya with forty envelopes from the “Lost Boys” and
Sudanese families living in Denver. Our mission was to deliver
them to their families whom they had not seen in over twenty years.
It was an honor and a privilege to seek out and find each family
member. We drove to each and every zone in the camp to find them,
deliver the envelopes containing letters, photos, and money.After spending two days in Kakuma, we drove back to Lokichokio where we braved a downpour and decided to take a plane to Baidit, South Bor. We loaded the plane up with kilos of rice, beans , oil, salt and bottled water. We knew we were going to see hunger and wanted to present the gift of food to Isaac’s family. |
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