A Lesson in Sudan, Africa

A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, the author of A Single Shard, is an interesting perspective into the tragedies of war and famine in Sudan, Africa throughout the last quarter century. I have grown up hearing about the human rights offences that took place in Sudan and Ethiopia, but like many people I didn't understand the conflict. Park uses the true story of Salva Dut, a "Lost Boy" of the Sudan civil war in Africa since 1985, as the basis for the the plot of the book. She connects it to the fictional story of Nya, belonging to the rival Neur clan in Sudan, during 2008 and 2009. The reader follows Salva through his grueling tail of survival as he has to abandon his family in order to escape the battle that has engulfed his home village. The reader follows Salva's life through Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya, crossing deserts, eluding wild animals, avoiding being recruited for battle for either side, in an attempt to reach sanctuary in refugee camps that are almost as grueling as facing the war itself. Salva finally is adopted by an American family where his next life story begins. How can he give back to a country that has so little going for it? This is where the two stories come together.

I recommend this book to all my readers. It reminded me of how the book, Three Cup of Tea by Greg Mortenson, made me understand a little more about the social issues involving the countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan. A Long Walk to Water reminds the reader that human rights atrocities in Africa are still a problem. Because there are not vested interests in oil in the region like the Middle East, Americans tend to turn their backs on this corner of Africa.

Can reading a novel like A Long Walk to Water make a person more credible when discussing civil rights or war in which our own country is involved? In other words, How does a story like this make you a smarter person?