THEY POURED FIRE ON US FROM THE SKY: THE TRUE STORY OF...
By: Deng, Benson
Benjamin, Alepho, and Benson were raised among
the Dinka tribe of Sudan. Their world was an insulated, close-knit community of
grass-roofed cottages, cattle herders, and tribal councils. The lions and
pythons that prowled beyond the village fences were the greatest threat they
knew. All that changed the night the government-armed Murahiliin began attacking
their villages. Amid the chaos, screams, conflagration, and gunfire,
five-year-old Benson and seven-year-old Benjamin fled into the dark night. Two
years later, Alepho, age seven, was forced to do the same. Across the Southern
Sudan, over the next five years, thousands of other boys did likewise, joining
this stream of child refugees that became known as the Lost Boys. Their journey
would take them over one thousand miles across a war-ravaged country, through
landmine-sown paths, crocodile-infested waters, and grotesque extremes of
hunger, thirst, and disease. The refugee camps they eventually filtered through
offered little respite from the brutality they were fleeing. In They Poured Fire
on Us From the Sky , Alepho, Benson, and Benjamin, by turn, recount their
experiences along this unthinkable journey. They vividly recall the family,
friends, and tribal world they left far behind them and their desperate efforts
to keep track of one another. This is a captivating memoir of Sudan and a
powerful portrait of war as seen through the eyes of children. And it is, in the
end, an inspiring and unforgettable tribute to the tenacity of even the youngest
human spirits. TitlePeek
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