The Founders
Jacob Atem
Jacob was six years old when his parents and several of his siblings were killed by northern Sudanese Arab militias waging war on southern Sudan. The militia entered his village, killed men, kidnapped women and children and burned homes to the ground. Jacob was in a nearby cattle field during the attack. He ran to the forest with his older cousin to escape danger when he saw the smoke rising from the village. That day was the beginning of a thousand-mile journey for Jacob as he searched for protection amidst war.
During their journey, with northern forces closely behind, they often hid during the day and walked all night. With lion attacks a constant danger, they made timetables to decide who would sleep while the other stood watch. They ran from lion attacks and swam through alligator-infested waters, and eventually they made it to safety in Kenya.
Jacob stayed in Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya until he came to the United States when he was 15. He was sent to Michigan, where he lived with a foster family and received his high school and college education. Jacob traveled to the University of Florida to get his Ph.D. after he received his bachelors and master’s degree in Michigan. He currently lives in Florida with his wife, Linda, and his three sons, Samuel Dut, Theodore Yai, and James. He graduated in December 2017 with his Ph.D. in environmental and global health and went on to do post doctrine work at John Hopkins. He plans to use his education to help people around the world.
Lual Awan
Lual Deng Awan was born in the village of Maar, in the State of Jonglei, South Sudan. When the nightmare of the Sudan/South Sudan Civil War fell upon him, he fled with thousands of other boys in the late 1980s. In 1992, he arrived in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya.
Awan arrived in Lansing, Michigan on September 26, 2001. In 2007, he completed his general associate degree from Lansing Community College, and transferred to Michigan State University (MSU), where he completed an advance certificate in international development, minor degree in geography, and in a BA in economics in 2010. Currently, he is pursuing a master’s degree in economic geography at MSU. His main area of focus is economics potential and diversification in South Sudan with emphasis on agriculture, trade, infrastructure, energy, and general development.
The civil war separated him from his parents when he was seven-years-old, and if parental care, love, and guidance matter in child’s rearing, then they are attributes of life that he has missed. However, Lual’s resiliency made him overcome his odds. He deeply benefitted from the caring, teamwork, encouragement, and advices that the Lost Boys of Sudan provided to each other in the refugee camps. The mutual bond taught him the importance of working together as a team and being a leader. In 2008, Lual Awan and his friend, Jacob Atem formed the Southern Sudan Healthcare Organization (SSHCO) to help improve healthcare services in South Sudan.