The Lost Boys

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First Broadcast: Sat 6 September 2003

In 1987, the Arab army of Sudan attacked the villages in the south of the country. To escape massacre, thousands of young boys fled into the bush, beginning an epic, terrible trek through the wilderness. Their journey led the survivors to Kakuma, a squalid refugee camp in Kenya, where many have remained ever since.

They are known as the Lost Boys of Sudan.

In 1999, the US government announced that 3,500 of these young men would be allowed to start a new life in the USA. This tragicomic tale of two worlds colliding follows a group of Lost Boys from Kenya to America as they look for stability and security in their brave new world. American support is earnest but awkward - workers teach them everything from how to cross the street to how to use a toilet. Then they have to look for work.

For these dignified, sombre, haunted young men, it is yet another hurdle in a lifetime of challenges as they seek to move on from the traumas that have so scarred their youth.

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