Refugees from a civil war in Sudan, these men braved lions and gunfire to flee their country at an early age. Thursday, after five years juggling English, coursework and warehouse jobs, they reached a milestone in their new U.S. lives: Graduation from Gateway Community College.
Barnabas Atem and John Amol (pictured, from left to right) were two of 588 people to graduate from Gateway Thursday in Yale’s Woolsey Hall. World-famous forensic scientist Dr. Henry C. Lee earned an honorary associate degree; Diane Jorkasky, vice president of the Global Clinical Pharmacology Department at Pfizer, gave the keynote address.
From the balcony, half a dozen young Sudanese men cheered on their two friends below. All refugees from the civil war, they’re a close-knit group.
In the late 1980s, violence forced over 20,000 children to leave their homes in Sudan. Boys, some as young as 5 or 6, walked in droves for hundreds of miles to Ethiopia for safety. They became known as the Lost Boys of Sudan.
“The journey was tough,” recalls Jacob Atem, Barnabas Atem’s cousin. “A lot of people lost their life through the way.” They walked for two or three months, surviving military fire, attacks of wild animals, burning sands and dehydration.
They spent years at a refugee camp in Ethiopia, made an attempt to get back to Sudan, then spent another nine years in a Kenyan refugee camp, studying English and honing soccer skills. In 2001, the U.S. opened its doors to 3,600 Lost Boys. They hopped a plane to New York City, and before they knew it, 25 of them had landed in New Haven.
They’ve all stayed close. “We support each other… Because we were in the camps for many years, we know each other,” said William Dhal (pictured, at left), a Gateway student and Atem’s roommate. They’ve helped each other along.
Atem and Amol are the first two of the New Haven bunch to earn associate degrees —‚Äù many are in the process, enrolled at Gateway or in high school.
After the ceremony, the group shared hugs with a group from Madison and Guilford who’ve helped guide them through the shock of immigration.
“It’s an amazing day because when they first came, they didn’t know what soap or broccolli was,” said Carol Brown (pictured at top, on the right). The men call her “Mama Carol.”
Brown is part of a Madison church group that sponsored two men when they arrived. She set up tutoring in a West Haven church so the group, still struggling with English, could earn high school diplomas. They met every week and after a year, 18 of the 25 passed. Then Brown helped them all apply to Gateway. She beamed at the sight of them in robes. “It was really great to see them here.”
“It was not easy,” said Atem (pictured) of his engineering degree, which he earned while working jobs shelving at bookstores and assembling parts at Lowe’s. His dream is to be a civil engineer. “We are really pleased to have come to this point to the associate degree today. … We need a better life.”
Amol earned a Biology degree while working full-time at Target. He worked the night shift, came home to change, then attended his four classes during the day. “It was hard work, because English is not my native language.” He’s leaving for UConn in the fall. “It feels great, you know!”
Congratulations Baranabus and John!