James Lual and Michael Kuch, two members of the "Lost Boys" of the Sudan, visited Drexel on February 19th, 2007, to share their experiences. The event, held in the Mandell Theater, was sponsored by the University Writing Program in connection with the Philadelphia Free Library's One Book, One Philadelphia.

The library's annual program centers on a single book and involves a number of events pertaining to the selected work. This year's selection, Dave Eggers' What Is the What, details the journey of another "lost boy," Valentino Achak Deng, as he leaves the Sudan as a small child, and struggles to adjust to his new life in America.

The program was opened with remarks from Harriet Millan, the director of the Drexel University Writing Program. Her remarks centered on the importance of writing and its ability to connect universities, communities and whole societies. These sentiments were appropriately fitting for the event at hand as the Free Library's program is designed to connect its participants around a common work.

Lual and Kuch worked in tandem to present their individual stories within the historical context of the ongoing political and military struggle in Sudan. Their stories were similar, but nonetheless exemplary, representations of harrowing hardship and extraordinary courage. The men, then boys of just seven and five years old, were separated from their families and forced to face the realities of a third-world nation torn apart by civil war. Both walked hundreds of miles back and forth from Sudan to Kenya and Ethiopia, its neighboring nations, dealt with years of monotony and danger inside of refugee camps, and ultimately endured some of the most dreadful conditions present in the world.

Despite the overwhelming details of their early lives, the life stories of Michael Kuch and James Lual have, thankfully, made some positive turns. The multi-year process of fighting their way through miles of United Nations red tape, the length of which rivaled their moonlight treks through African wilderness, ended in 2000 when each arrived in the United States. Both are now residents of the Philadelphia area, and, despite their tumultuous journeys, have become very well adjusted.

The presentation ended with a brief showing of pieces of the PBS documentary "Dinka Diaries," which included the story of Michael Kuch along with many other Sudanese immigrants, and a short question and answer period. During the question portion of the program, Kuch and Lual were generally complementary of the United States' efforts thus far to quell the violence in portions of Africa, although they agreed with members of the audience who suggested that more could and should be done. Another member of the audience asked about their reaction to use of the term "lost boys." This elicited a chuckle from the presenters who admitted that they thought the branding of them as "lost boys" was arbitrary and a little silly.

The event was followed by an "authentic" African meal, in the adjacent Living Arts Lounge and offered the audience a chance for further discussion with the presenters.