The original story, published for adults in 2020, has been adapted here for young adult readers. During the Second Sudanese Civil War, thousands of boys were displaced or orphaned. In 1989, Mecak Ajang Alaak, an inspirational teacher and leader, led 20,000 ‘Lost Boys’ on a four-year journey from Ethiopia to Kenya. His aim was to protect them from becoming child soldiers.

Mecak Ajang Alaak, was a respected Dinka community leader. He was well-educated, inspirational and determined to use his gifts as a teacher. He was determined that the young boys of his homelands would to be rescued and evacuated.

This inspirational story provides a moving and informative insight into the politics of civil war and the plight faced by so many refugees. During the Second Sudanese Civil war, thousands of South Sudanese boys were displaced from their villages or orphaned in attacks from northern government troops. Many became refugees in Ethiopia. There in 1989 teacher and community leader Mecak Ajang Alaak assumed care of the Lost Boys in a bid to protect them from becoming child soldiers. So began a four-year journey from Ethiopia to Sudan and on to the safety of a Kenyan refugee camp. Together they endured starvation, animal attacks, land mines and aerial bombardments. This eyewitness account by Mecak Ajang Alaak’s son, Yuot, is the extraordinary true story of a man who believed that the pen is mightier than the gun.

Mecak and his son Yout, migrated to Australia as refugees in May 1995 through a United Nations resettlement program. They never lost their love of their Dinka culture and their desire for a peaceful South Sudan. South Sudan was declared an independent country in 2011. Yuot A. Alaak calls himself a proud South Sudanese Australian and lives in Perth with his family.

1. Asylum Seekers
2. Compassion
3. Conflict
4. Cross Cultural Relations
5. Cultural Traditions
6. Detention Centres
7. Emigrants
8. Emigration
9. Empathy
10. Family
11. Friendship
12. History
13. Hope
14. Immigration
15. Intolerance
16. Race Relations
17. Racial Conflict
18. Racism
19. Refugees
20. Resilience
21. Social Justice
22. Tolerance
23. War