God Grew Tired of Us

I remember shaking his hand and looking into his eyes. I was fascinated but far too young to really understand his story. How he ended up in Mitchell, South Dakota, I don't know. His name was Daniel, and he was a lost boy of Sudan.

In 1987, an order went out to kill all male children in Southern Sudan. So they ran. They ran, leaving behind their homes, families, and friends. Their lives would never be the same. They traveled together to Ethiopia and then to Kenya, searching for safety. On their journey, over half of the 25,000 boys died. The rest came to live in refugee camps. For years, they struggled to survive. For years, they worried about their families. For years, they waited for the day they could return to their homeland. But the civil war waged on, taking the lives of over two million people.

We were assigned to watch the film God Grew Tired of Us, telling the story of three lost boys who eventually came to the United States to escape their many hardships. The United States gave them opportunities to further their educations and get jobs. However, it did come with challenges as they adjusted to their new way of life. But they never lost hope. They continued to work hard so that they could help their loved ones back home.

The filmmakers did a good job at tugging on my heartstrings. I cried at two different points during the movie. I cried seeing the emaciated bodies of the children after walking thousands of miles to the refugee camp. It broke my heart to see such suffering. I teared up once again at the end of the film when one of the boys--now a grown man--reunited with his mother. They had not seen each other in seventeen years. 

So what is the point? Why did filmmakers make this movie? Why were we assigned to watch it? Why am I sitting in my dorm room, bawling like a baby? Making a movie does not change what happened to these boys. Watching it does not do anything to help them. My tears do not make a difference in their lives. But they could make a difference somehow.

"Let my cry and tears turn to love or happiness." This is a quote from one of the boys in the film. His experiences motivated him to change the situation of others. We can follow this example. There is so much suffering in the world. No one is immune to hardship. Our distress can unite us. Since we all have pain, we know what it feels like and can help alleviate the pain of others. Instead of sitting and crying about our own problems, we should focus on wiping away the tears of others.

I will probably never see Daniel again, nor ever have the opportunity to make a difference in any of those lost boys' lives. However, I can take their inspiration to improve the lives of my roommates, friends, family members, classmates, and coworkers. Because, as one of the boys in the movie said, "I am strong enough to do that." It may not seem like much, but it is enough.

____________________________________________________________________________

God Grew Tired of Us is a 2007 documentary by New Market Films and the National Geographic and directed by Christopher Dillon Quinn.