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Chapter 3:

In chapter 3 Valentino talks about when he was in the line of boys. These boys were scared of there surrounding due to lions and other men. The main leader of the line named Dut Majok said to think of better times to help the boys get to sleep. They would create a favorite lunch, afternoon, game, evening, girl and to memorize the details. When they were most frightened they were told to use this and before they were done with the dream breakfast they would be asleep. According to Valentino this method worked by slowing your breathing and focusing your mind. If you were in a frightening situation and you used this method, what would your dream day be like? Explain in detail.
*Heather McPherson

D Block's What is the What Discussion!

What is the What is based on the life story of Valentino Achak Deng. Valentino had to over come many hardships that children normally don't have to overcome anytime in their lives. Just as a young child he was separated from his family, and walked and crawled miles upon miles for freedom. He witnessed things that even adults don't witness. He had to live with the fear of being hunted down and eaten, or being shot and killed. As these thousands of boys were struggling to save their own lives and the lives of the people around them, we were sitting here doing nothing to help. What is your take on what has happened over the course of Valentino's life? Do you think you would be able to survive the struggles like he did? If you could ask him one question what would it be? Explain one difficulty he went through as a Lost Boy and tell what you would do in that situation.

SLIDESHOW :

*Heather M

SUDAN

*Heather M

2nd Discussion: LANDMINES?

Sudan is one of the ten most landmine-affected countries in the world. A truce in the long-running civil conflict (which is separate from and far predates the crisis in Darfur) has now allowed the United Nations to begin work in southern Sudan, to clear landmines and unexploded ordnance.
Nobody knows precisely how many mines there are in the country, but Sudan’s 21-year civil war has resulted in a tremendously widespread problem with mines and unexploded ordnance. Many towns in southern Sudan suffer from the after-effects of major battles and aerial bombardments. Untold numbers of live bombs, grenades, and shells lie below the surface of fields near homes, putting children and their families at risk for dismemberment or death.

An estimated 15,000 to 20,000 people are killed or maimed by landmines every year, according to the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Thousands of these victims are children. Landmines and unexploded ordnance violate a great many of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, including those that establish a child’s rights to life, to a safe environment in which to play, to health, clean water, sanitary conditions and to an adequate education.

What do you think of all this and what do you think should be done about it? Do you think that what is being done is enough?

*Heather McPherson

The Lost Boys

In 1983, a second Sudanese Civil War began that would effect the world for more than twenty years. Leaving over four million people homeless and killing two million men, women, and children. The war still continues to this day in the largest country in Africa, Sudan and the country's western region of Darfur.
Around 20,000 boys were able to escape the tragedy by fleeing from the villages, leaving their families, homes and everything that they knew. They crossed thousands of miles of desert, forest, terrain, and suffered from starvation, dehydration, and disease.
Less than half of the children survived the journey and they are know today as the Lost Boys of Sudan.

As I was searching through the internet for information on the Lost Boys, I came across a sight from the Oprah Show. She had interviewed Joseph Taban Rufino on her show, who is an actual man who survived the journey of the Lost Boys. http://www.oprah.com/tows/pastshows/tows_2002/tows_past_20020509_d.jhtml


-Brittney Costa