Review of the book “A long way to the water”
Linda Sue Park helped Salva Dut share his experience as a “lost boy” from Sudan who returned home to build a well for his village.
Salva was eleven years old when he set out on foot with thousands of other children who had been forced to leave their villages after soldiers killed their parents. The violent reality included shootings, being eaten by lions and crocodiles, drowning and being kidnapped to be child soldiers.
The children traveled through South Sudan, Ethiopia and Kenya. They lived in refugee camps for several years. Salva was interested in learning English so a volunteer taught it to him. Eventually, when he was young, Salva was one of the group that was allowed to come to the United States.
After a few years in the United States, Salva received the news that his father was still alive but very ill from not having clean water. Salva began his dream of reuniting with her father and finding a way to solve the water problem. With the help of many people organizing and raising funds, her dream came true.
Salva returned home and was reunited with his father. They told her that her mother was still alive but that it was too dangerous to travel to where she was. She was only able to see her father because he was in a hospital.
Salva put together a team and drilled a well in the town. His term was that no one could be denied water. The townspeople had to come together for the benefit of all. Later, he began to drill wells in other towns.
The ending tied the fictional part of the story with his real story. The fictional story was about a young Nuer woman named Nya some twenty years after she benefited from the new well. She noticed that the man who gave them the clean water did not have any tribal markings on his forehead. She guessed he was from her tribe. She asked someone and was told that she was Dinka, not Nuer. She wondered why she would help them. She steeled herself to walk up to him and said, “Thank you for bringing us the water.”
The girls were now able to attend school because they no longer had to walk to fetch water.
This story is precious to me because of the young Sudanese adults in my life. One is my friend and his family. The other is my daughter-in-law. My friend is Dinka and my daughter-in-law is Nuer. I love you both.
My friend’s dream is to build a school building for the children of his village. I want to help you. We will need a lot of help. I’m sure every one of the “Lost Boys” has dreams. Although telling their stories is painful, one by one we can help them build a better future for the next generation.