The Inspiration
Salva Dut is the inspiration and the vision
behind Water for Sudan, Inc. Salva Dut is the Founder and President of Water for
Sudan, Inc. Salva is now in his 30's, and was one of the 17,000 Walking Boys of Sudan who fled the
war-torn southern regions of the country. You want to read his story.
Salva escaped from Sudan when he was just 11 years old. He trekked and lived with about 1,500 of these Walking Boys for more than eleven years; first east to Ethiopia where he spent about five years and then southwest to Kenya where he lived inside the barbed wire fences of the United Nations-controlled Kakuma refugee camp outside the northern-most Kenyan city of Lodwar. He lived in this refugee camp with 92,000 other people for nearly six years.
Salva was one of the lucky ones. A significant number of the displaced Walking Boys perished by hunger, thirst, wildlife attacks, diseases and the pursuit of soldier attackers during their 1,800-mile journey away from their villages toward the relative safety of Kenya and Ethiopia.
In 1996, under the auspices of the U.S. State Department and the United Nations, 3,000 of these Walking Boys, including Salva, came to the United States. At the same time other Boys went to Australia and Canada. Some even returned to Sudan to join the opposition forces in combat against the government's northern army.
Salva came to the United States without an educational background. Realizing his need for a formal education, Salva attended English classes almost immediately. He enrolled in the Monroe Community College in Rochester, N.Y. where he earned his GED, and subsequently, an Associate's Degree in Business in 1999. He is currently enrolled at SUNY Brockport where he has just one semester remaining to earn his Bachelor's degree in International Business.
Since his safe arrival in the United States, Salva has studied very hard to become a U.S. citizen. He accomplished his goal on September 13, 2001: Salva Dut became an American citizen.
In January 2002 Salva learned of his father's illness from a fellow refugee. Sensing that this could be his last opportunity to see his father, Salva returned to Sudan. By this time, Salva and his father had not seen each other in sixteen years. Salva discovered that his father was suffering from worms in his stomach, Guinea worms on his limbs, and a hernia resulting from carrying heavy jugs of unclean water many miles each day. After an operation to repair the hernia, the doctor told his father not to drink unclean water if he wanted to live. There was no clean water in his village so he abandoned his life-long home and moved about a hundred miles away to where he could find clean water. Salva, too, became infected with water-borne parasites during his trip to Sudan.
Salva's trip opened his eyes wide to the terrible truth of everyday life for the people of southern Sudan. He is determined to change this situation. He feels strongly that it is his destiny to go back and help alleviate the suffering of the people in Sudan with the education he received here in the United States. He is very thankful to the American people for what they have contributed to his life. Salva challenges each of us to engage in work that makes a difference in the life of the world.
Salva has formed this charitable organization, Water for Sudan, Inc., to enable him to drill wells and provide clean, fresh water in his homeland.