The dying began on the fifth day. It was an astonishing story of survival, and it took an Extraordinary Partnership to bring it to the world. Valentino deng and his american friend dave eggers spent 4 years writing a book about valentinos childhood nightmare. I think we have a fascination for children who have lost everything and have then become separated from their parents, and we know that this happens during war, but this was something so unique, where tens of thousands of children walking more or less alone across a desert, 800 miles. Together theyve told a tale that captivated millions and even became the mustread book for a president. Now theyve begun a new journey, using a shared passion for education to help rebuild a shattered society. Here in the u. S. , people take their education for granted, and he can say, well, i walked 800 miles, uh, through a warravaged sudan just to to sit onon the grass and and learn abcs in the dirt. Wow, a human can do this . You know . You know, im happy, and i laugh about it, and i say, im proud to be a part of this society as well. [singing in native language] this is something you wont often see in the west, crowds of kids excited about going to school. [singing in native language] in southern sudan, its now every childs dream to get an education. Not so long ago, children werent marching to school, they were fleeing for their lives. Valentino is determined to give these children the chance his generation never had. I want something best for my country. I want Something Better for my people. I want something that will bring them peace. He was a young cattle herder, perhaps 8 or 9 years old, when the war swept into his village in the early 1980s. For decades there had been tensions between these mainly christian africans of southern sudan and the muslim arabs of the north. After the southerners rebelled, the north attacked their villages. First, they used helicopter gunships. Now, there were 5 or more of these machines, great black crickets in every direction. Adults were running from the machines, falling, screaming. [gunshots] then came the men on horseback. From our hiding place we watched the storm overtake the town. All was dust. I heard the crack of gunfire behind us. Horses burst through the grass to the right and left. [machinegun fire] thousands of children fled into the bush, including many children like valentino who became separated from their families. The children banded together to try to escape the fighting. We were walking to ethiopia, but we were not safe. There would be the Sudan Armed Forces who would spot any moving target in southern sudan and drop bombs at them. So we would see dead bodies everywhere. Everyone was looking for a safer place. And whatever it tooks, you know, walking at day and night, wewe made it. Groups of orphans as young as 3 walked for months across the desert to reach ethiopia. Within days, there were thousands of boys and soon after the boys arrived, there were adults and families and babies, and the land was crowded with sudanese. A city of refugees rose up within weeks. It is something to see. People simply sitting, surrounded by rebels and ethiopian soldiers, waiting to be fed. Then, when ethiopia expelled them, they had to march all over again to kenya, as the civil war raged around them. I turned around, and i could see the soldiers kneeling in the grass of the riverbank, shooting at us as we crossed. A scream came from very close. I turned to see a boy in the jaws of a crocodile. The river bloomed red, and the boys face disappeared. They actually were firing on you . Yes. As you were trying to cross the river to escape . Yes. And you saw people dying around you . Of course. And almost died yourself . Yeah. I even saw a woman who was killed, a young woman who was killed, and her small daughter, you know, was struggling to breastfeed on her mother who had just been killed. And crying. For 13 years the survivors grew up as unaccompanied minors in refugee camps, where they became known as the lost boys. Eventually, valentino moved to the united states, determined to tell the world the story of what theyd been through. In 2003, he began collaborating with dave eggers, a bestselling author whos own memoire had been shortlisted for the pulitzer prize. Eggers agreed that the money from any book sales would go towards sudan. The story of the lost boys and valentinos story in particular just hadnt been told. This is aa war that, you know, claimed over 2 million lives, and we knew almost nothing about it. The result was what is the what, a fictionalized account of valentinos life that became a publishing sensation. We thought we would be telling a story aboutabout history, about something that had happened andand we were you know, there was peace, uh, in south sudan and a Peace Agreement on its way, and, uh, you know, in the first handful of months that we were working together, thats when darfur blew up, and we thought, well, this could never happen again, and it happened precisely the same way, and so then the sense of urgency was sort of doubled, um, because that same government was oppressing another region of the country, and we thought, if people really understand the underpinnings and the, uh of the war, both conflicts are so similar. The book was not only a bestseller, it captivated americas elite. Valentino deng found himself feted by past and present u. S. President s and embraced by hollywood activists, like angelina jolie. I became popular in the u. S. I appreciated it, but i didnt do it to be a celebrity, iit was a call to action, and thats how i looked at it always. Hes now using the proceeds of the book to help his homeland rebuild. A peace deal in 2005 allowed him to join hundreds of other lost boys returning to southern sudan. Though the boys are now all grown men. Im growing taller. So he was a boy, was he . Yeah, he was. Theyd come back to a land that was nearly razed to the ground in 20 years of fighting. After the war, so much, uh, infrastructurethe little infrastructure that there was was completely gone. The village has been burned and burned over for many years. But since his first visit home in 2003, the towns have started to rise from the ashes. Yes, it has changed much. Last year there was no road like this. And, um, you see people going to school. All schools were closed during the war. So a lot of change isis taking place. Its all coming back to life. Yep. Valentino was able to reconnect with the family he hadnt seen in 16 years. Against all odds, his parents had survived. They look emaciated, they look sick, they needed a lot. I know i have a lot to offer them. But i was excited to come back and find them alive. Dengs dream was to build a New High School in his village of marial bai, a school where the next generation could learn to help their new country. Hes already gone most of the way to realize it. We have come, and, luckily, it didnt rained. Everything would be wet right now. This is amazing, what youve done. So youve built all this in just a year . Yep. Everything we see here . Yeah, everything we see here, except that building, was built in less than a year. Thats amazing. With the money from the book, he bought a truck, transported Building Materials all the way from uganda, and hired the villagers to build it in record time. When dave eggers visited, he was stunned by how fast it had happened in such a remote and hard place. His actions are speaking louder than anything else. Theres a lot of people that talk about rebuilding south sudan and how to do it, and theres a lot of plans being drawn up anduh, but in an incredibly short amount of time, he just did it. [singing in native language] its the only Proper High School in the region. There are now 260 students, including 22 women and girls. [singing in native language] the plan is to eventually have 800 students with as many girls as boys. [singing in native language] [thunder roaring] despite all theyve been through, people here are quick to see blessings. Even torrential rain is welcomed as a gift from god. That makes this school day doubly blessed. Please, please. Put god ahead of you. Valentino deng has invited abraham nial, another lost boy whos just been named the new bishop. When we left home in the eighties, many of us died. Some were eaten by wild animals, some drowned in the rivers. But god keep some of us alive to be witness of what took place in sudan. He and valentino are pushing a message of nonviolence. We had a goal, that if we can survive and go to school, we need to come back and change life in sudan. Valentino have done it. Thats why you people are here. We fought for more than 50 years, but nothing was accomplished through the gun. The things are going to change through education. Madame [indistinct] from [indistinct]. Its no easy task after two decades of war. Even the teachers here have little formal education. So valentino has appealed for teachers from the other side of the world to help teach them. Where are you from . From new york. Where in new york . Uh, manhattan. Theyre among dozens who paid their own way to come as volunteers. Where in california . San francisco. Despite giving up his retirement for this, don hesse says he gets just as much out of the experience as those hes helping. This is where id rather be than anywhere else, except, possibly, the baseball stadium, but some things youve got to give up, and thats what i gave up to come here. And i miss my children very much, but but i could not bethis this is, you knowif i could pick a place i would be, this is where it would be. Its wonderful. Im surprise. With a d. I am surprised. I know it looks like the past tense, right . During breaks, the students mob the volunteers, hungry for the learning the war denied them. It looks like it, and you are smart however, i can tell you. You are smart to think it is the past tense, because you see ed, it must be the past. So thats good. Good. But unfortunately, its not. [laughs] it is it is an adjective. You say, i am surprised that you are such a good student. In new york, we have 10 million people. The presence of foreigners here is also an important symbol for the sudanese, who feel that, for decades, theyve been forgotten by the outside world. What do you think . Do you like to be here with us, or would you like to go. . Ah, i love it here, yes, but i have to go back to work. [laughs] ive been here for a while, you know, i have to go back, uh. Will you come back next year . I hope so, i hope. The students here are incredibly eager, um, especially this being the First Secondary School in the region. Its a longits a long ways away, so you know, theres thousands and thousands of applicants to get into the school who have taken the test, and so they were the few that were chosen, so theyre going to be some of the most highly educated people in southern sudan. And so i think theyre starting to realize that, you know, theres a bigger purpose for them beyond, you know, just being a high school graduate. They are going to be the future of the new country. Last class we were working on spelling. Spelling rules. In these classrooms, theres no fidgeting at the back of the class, no yearning for the school bell. Were talking about nouns. In australia, the students would be in their early teens. Here most are in their twenties, catching up on the lost years. How do i spell that . Some of them have come out of 5, 6 years in the army and are now settling down into high school. Excellent, so im not going to worry about that one. You get people whove had a very difficult past. You get some young boys, and you see the joy in the face and the laughter and theyre and theyre lighting up. You get some of the older students, and their seriousness isis tinged by some amount of sadness. The problem in southern sudan is not any lack of enthusiasm, its just the lack of resources. Even at night, they huddle round the one light powered by the schools generator. And the most determined of all are the girls. What resources the country had. In southern sudan, only one girl in 10 finishes primary school, one in 100 gets through high school. The worst thing you can say about these kids is that theyll steal textbooks so they can stay up late at night and study under the light outside the shower. Um, thatsthats the worst thing you can say about them, is they want to learn more. Every day more people are returning to southern sudan, despite the poverty that awaits them. In a fertile region, rich in oil, one in four people are still dependent on food aid. Yet theres a sense of hope here, even excitement, of building a new country. Since the peace deal was signed 6 years ago, there have been no more attacks from the islamist government in khartoum. For the first time in decades, southern sudan is feeling free. But theres a dark cloud hanging over all of this. In january, the south is due to hold a referendum on independence. It was guaranteed under the peace deal, but the question is, will khartoum honor the agreement . Would it really let the south, with all its oil fields, go . Or are the people here just months from another war . You know, look, theres angelo. Okay, okay. Thats angelo. The possibility of more fighting worries valentino dengs supporters. The school is just a short drive from the northern border, near what could be the front line. Khartoum has never allowed anything like this to happen and none of their behavior would predict that they would allow this to happen peacefully. So theres a lot of fear, and a lot of people say, how can you build a secondary school when there might be war a year from now . But again, valentino has to always err on the side of hope andand moving forward. Um, so thats the greatest challenge, is that, will this school be used as a barracks a year from now . So are you optimistic oror pessimistic . I am optimistic. After all the bad things youve seen and been through . Well, the bad things ive seen happened for a reason. There is war, there was chaos, there was the killing, there wasall that had to happen because we had allowed our country to get, uh, at war with itself. What, then, would you expect . And so all that had to happen. But now the sudanese have come back again, sat on a round table, and negotiated a comprehensive Peace Agreement that i trust they must implement to its fullest. Hmm. If fighting did come again, would you leave sudan again . I dont know. Something you think about . I dont think about it. You know, preventive is better than cure. Theres a price he pays for his passion for the school. Once again, hes separated from his family, his wife and baby son living in kenya until he can make a proper home for them in sudan, the sort of home valentino didnt have. And we will keep him safe, we will protect him in the best way we can. Well make sure he doesnt go through all this pain. He sees them rarely, dividing his time between marial bai and the u. S. , where he continues to raise money for his foundation. Today, its time to farewell the students until he comes back next term. Another issue i would like to acknowledge here is that im really very proud of you, and i want to thank you very much for our event. Hes, you knowbecame one of my closest friends, and hes also just the best man ive ever known. And what hes been able to accomplish through his foundation, and, um and continued to do, its just continues to sort of amaze me and everybody who knows him. When you look around at whats been achieved so far, after all youve been through, what are your feelings . Im very happy, im very proud of it. I like seeing them crack jokes and laughing and playing together with their sisters. Its amazing. And for me, i think im doing exactly what i need to do with my life, to be here, to see some people smiling and to know that ive given them that smile. Thats what matters to me. Like what you saw . Then visit viewchange. Org, link tvs brand new multimedia website. Watch over 350 stories about new solutions to the developing worlds biggest challenges. Get involved with the issues, share the stories with friends, and help change the world. All at viewchange. Org xgcncncncncococococococococococu debra next up, its the pandemic that has touched millionsaids. 30 years after the first confirmed cases appeared, where are we now . And whats working in hiv prevention . Find out in a special report from psi and viewchange. Org. Announcer viewchange is about people making Real Progress in tackling the Worlds Toughest issues. Can a story change the world . See for yourself in viewchange hiv prevention looking back and moving forward. Debra im debra messing, ambassador for psi. Its been 30 years since the centers for Disease Control confirmed the first cases of hiv in the united states. Since 1
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