Salva Dut Inspires Students

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(Newswire.net — November 1, 2013) Singapore, Singapore — On October 17, the sixth grade students in the Singapore American School (SAS) Middle School were inspired by guest speaker Salva Dut.  Speaking to a packed auditorium of students and their families, Salva shared stories of his life as a youngster growing up in South Sudan. His story was featured in Linda Sue Park’s award winning book, A Long Walk to Water, about the courageous Lost Boys of Sudan.

 

Devin Pratt, SAS Middle School Principal, said, “Salva Dut is an amazing individual who through incredible difficulties grew into a very respected individual. It is difficult to imagine being the same age as many of the kids we teach and having to face the hardships that [the Lost Boys] did. I feel fortunate to be a part of a learning community like SAS that provides such a wide-range of learning opportunities so our kids can be influenced and learn from such a respected person.”

 

Salva Dut was one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. He shared how as an 11 year old Dinka from Tonj in southwest Sudan, he fled first to Ethiopia. Then later, as a teenager, he led 1500 “Lost Boys” hundreds of miles through the Southern Sudan desert to the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. That courage and heroic perseverance continue to this day. He and other Lost Boys were granted amnesty in the United States, Australia and Canada and relocated to the United States in 1996 courtesy of the Episcopal Church. 

 

After hearing that his father, Mawien Dut , whom he hadn’t seen since his father dropped him off at school, was sick in a UN medical clinic after walking 300 miles, Salva went to see him as he wasn’t sure how much longer his father would live.  It had been 16 years since he last saw him.

 

“I said I should go and see my dad before he passes away… He sprayed water on my body…it’s a sign of welcoming back from the grave,” he shared with his audience.

 

Then he shared that he discovered that his father was suffering from water-borne parasites and disease. There was no clean water in his fatherʼs village. Once reunited with his son and healthy again, his father abandoned his life-long home and moved about a hundred miles away to where he could find clean water.

 

Salva shared with his audience, “I said I should do something to help my dad and other people who are in the same situation.”  Inspired by what he witnessed on his trip home, Salva said that he and a small group of friends founded Water for South Sudan, a non-profit organization that for the past ten years has been raising funds and drilling fresh water wells in South Sudan.

 

Salva also shared this insight, “I was starting it because of [my dad] but I find there was so much need for others. If you help them, these people may someday…help others and this is what is really giving me so much energy.”

 

SAS students, always curious about the world, asked Salva many questions about his life as a Lost Boy and as an American citizen.

 

Established in 1956, the school primarily serves the American and international expatriate communities of Singapore. SAS is registered with the Singapore Council for Private Education, affiliated with the Office of Overseas Schools through the U.S. Department of State, and is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).

For more information about Singapore American School visit www.sas.edu.sg.

 

Singapore American School

40 Woodlands Street 41,
Singapore, Singapore 738547

+65 6363 3403
communications@sas.edu.sg
http://www.sas.edu.sg

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Singapore, Singapore