"The Lost Boys" were a group of boys, and a few girls, who were forced to flee their country of Sudan. Due to wars in Sudan, these children had to leave their tribe (The Dinka tribe), and their family in order to avoid the "bullets falling from the sky". After years of surviving under harsh conditions, the Lost boys arrived in Kenya, where they sought asylum in a refugee camp. Years later, 4,000 Dinka boys were chosen to migrate to the United States, where they believed they would have a better life.
One of these 4,000 boys was Peter, and the documentary, "The Lost boys of Sudan" follows his journey of migration. He migrated to Houston, Texas , yet he found life extremely difficult and not like the heaven he thought he was entering. One difficulty he faced was entering into a city life. He was not fluent in the language, and he found it difficult to understand others,and for others to understand him. He was also not used to the food, and so he kept on eating and eating. Peter overcame this language barrier, by speaking to his other fellow friends in not only his home language but in English too.
Another difficulty he faced was the prejudice culture of America. Not only was he a completely different color then the white Americans, but he was also much darker then the African Americans. People assumed he would hurt them, and steal from them, which he didn't want to do at all. People also assumed that they were lazy and that he wouldn't succeed. An example of this is when his counselor told him that he didn't have to take the test which was for a 4 year collage, because Peter would probably only go to the community collage. This shows that the counselor didn't believe he was good enough to make it into a 4 year collage. Peter, however, surprised the counselor, but already having the biography he had to have written for the collage, and was prepared for the test. The counselor also found Peters biography "too sad" to read. This shows he is oblivious to the fact that Peter had to live through all that he wrote about.
Another example of Peter getting shown prejudice is when the ESL teacher asks Peter a question which he can't answer. The question is, What would you do if you had 1 million dollars. This is a question which well off people like us have difficulty answering but for a refugee? its impossible to answer. The ESL teacher is not showing respect to his culture, because he is in a situation where a million dollars is out of the question.
A final example of racism against peter is at his job. The manager says that since he is African, and since he is used to the hot sun, he should be able to work outside all day. Peter is angry at this, because just because he is African, doesn't mean he should work out in the sun.
Peter overcomes this racism by just keep motoring forward. He sets goals out for himself, which he is determined to achieve, and so he is able to deal with this racism. Even though he feels poor compared to everyone else, he keeps on going, and is willing to learn new ways if it means achieving his goals.
A final difficulty Peter faces while in America is trying to manage all his time and money efficiently, so he can send some money back to Kenya. Peter wanted to come to America so he could gain an education, yet he is torn between looking after himself, and looking after his family. Peters schedule is jammed packed; he has to manage school, his food, his job, and his homework. His sister complains that he doesn't call enough, or send money enough. Peter wants an education so badly, that is why he moved to Kansas, but he wants to help his family. He absorbs the American culture and it is hard to remember the people he is meant to be helping too ( his family). Peter overcomes this by promising his sister that he will try to send more money, even if this means he has less. He also focus on what is important to him, his education, and so he tries hard in school so that migrating is worth it. Peter also tries out for the basketball team because that is what he loves to do, and he wants to also have some fun.
Peter is willing to slide into the culture of the Americans, yet he finds it hard to because of the language barrier, the racism he faces, and the fact that he has to still send money back to Africa.
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