Students at Bonar Law Memorial School listened closely when they had an opportunity on Tuesday Dec. 4th to hear about heart-wrenching childhood experiences so very different from their own. Mr. Jacob Deng, a survivor of civil war in southern Sudan, told how as a child his life was suddenly turned upside down by violence in his village. One of the“lost Boys of Sudan”, he became a refugee and had harrowing experiences moving from one refugee camp to another. He told of how he was able to piece together an education and was one of the very lucky ones to survive, eventually immigrating to Canada. His presentation to the students of BLMS was extremely well received. He was able to mix talking about the seriousness of what he lived through and the culture of his African village life with some disarming humourous asides. He connected very well with his audience and answered their thoughtful questions for an hour, asking each questioner for their name before answering. Since arriving in Canada Mr. Deng has settled in Halifax, Nova Scotia where he attended university and is now raising a family. However he has not forgotten his past. He is presently touring schools in the Maritimes, telling his story, which at times is very difficult to tell. He has chosen to tell it to develop awareness and hopes to raise funds to build a school in his now peaceful but impoverished home village. His childhood experiences inspired the book, A Hare in the Elephant’s Trunk, by Jan Coates and published by Red Deer Press. To see photos from Mr. Deng’s visit to Bonar Law visit Lost Boys of Sudan . To find out more about his childhood struggle and his hopes for his country visit http://www.wadeng.org/index.php .