Alephonsion Deng and Joseph Jok Visit to Poly

Last week, the Poly community had the distinct privilege of hosting Alephonsion Deng, one of the Lost Boys of Sudan and the author of two books, They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky (2005) and Disturbed in Their Nests (2018), and Joseph Jok, his International Rescue Committee (IRC) case manager. Deng and Jok joined the Upper School for an assembly to begin the day and later had lunch with the Global Scholars cohort and other Poly students who had read and were interested in his most recent book. In the evening, the two also presented at a Global Scholars event.



During the morning assembly, Jok opened with a brief history of the region of Sudan and the more recent geopolitical trends that led to the fleeing of thousands of refugees, of which Deng was a part. Like other Lost Boys, as they were known, Deng made his way out of his village and to a refugee camp in neighboring Kenya entirely on foot. Jok also touched on the role of religion and resource scarcity that led to the cultural tension and military conflict in the area. Deng then spoke about his story, using several pictures as references for the high school audience. Despite the tragic nature of the war-torn region, Deng spoke in a generally upbeat manner about his childhood and family. As the assembly came to a close, Deng briefly answered one question about a piece that aired on 60 Minutes back in 2001 about the Lost Boys. Many felt that the clip belittled the experience of the refugees and reduced their transition to a series of gaffes rather than addressing the political issues that lay at the root of the conflict. Deng explained that he was generally appreciative that his story was told at all, but he now actively tells his own story and works to spread a more complete picture of his experience in order to remedy the possible misperception of the matter.

At lunch, Poly students had the chance to interact more intimately with Deng and Jok and ask questions that they might not have been able to voice during the assembly. The conversation ranged from delving deeper into his childhood to the progression of the conflict in Sudan to how he grappled with his resettlement in San Diego. In the evening, when members of the Poly community were joined by students from Westridge and the Pasadena Unified School District, Deng elaborated on many of the themes he had already touched on in the assembly, adding some anecdotes about life in Sudan and America. He concluded the event with a reading of a couple of chapters of his most recent book, accompanied by a Poly student who read from the perspective of his co-author and IRC mentor Judy Bernstein. Deng’s willingness to share his story with the Poly community was invaluable in pushing us to consider the experiences of others and hopefully helped us realize the importance of understanding the issues of today.

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