They Poured Fire On Us From the Sky

Last month, I wrote about my attempt at reading Dave Eggers' What is the What. Since I couldn't get through it, I picked up They Poured Fire On Us From the Sky by Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng and Benjamin Ajak. This is a true story of three Lost Boys from Sudan, who lived through terrible ordeals and were finally relocated to America. In the late 1980's, when Arabs from northern Sudan began attacking villages in the south, thousands of people were killed or displaced from their homes. Brothers Benson and Alepho and their cousin Benjamin were just 5-7 years old at the time. Separated from each other and the rest of their families, the boys started walking, along with many other displaced boys. Overall they walked almost 1,000 miles to refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya. Along the way they almost died from thirst, starvation, wild animal attacks, bombings, sickness and injuries. Alternating chapters between the boys, each one tells of their experiences and how they managed to survive and reunite with each other.

I enjoyed the beginning when they talked of their lives before the fighting broke out, and even though Americans might view their way of life as simple, they were happy, safe and well fed. I also liked the little bit about their adjustment to life in America: their first time using a soda machine, their first trip to Wal-Mart, etc. Most of all though, their stories just stunned me. I kept reminding myself how young these boys were when they endured this, and I just cannot believe they made it. This is a heart wrenching story about the effects of war on children, and an inspiring tale of their determination to survive.