Salva Dut

Who is Salva Dut?

As a teenager, Salva Dut led roughly 1,500 Lost Boys across the desert lands of Sudan into a refugee camp in Kenya, called Kakuma, that was controlled by United Nations. Salva remained in Kakuma for two years, before walking with a group of Lost Boys for months to another Kenyan camp, called Ifo.

While living in Ifo, Salva Dut began learning English. About three years later, in 1996, the Lost Boys were told that about 4,000 of them would be selected to move to America. Later that year, Salva was finally chosen to move in with a foster family in Rochester, New York.

Finally, in 2005, the civil war in Sudan ended, and by July of 2011, the Republic of South Sudan celebrated its independence. Millions of young children had died, and even more were displaced. Communities were broken, families split apart, and for many, hope was shattered.

Water for South Sudan

Meanwhile, Salva Dut founded Water for South Sudan (WFSS), a nonprofit organization that drills wells in several countries throughout Africa. Salva began the association in 2003, and WFSS is still providing the people of Africa with clean drinking water.

A Long Walk to Water

A Long Walk to Water, written by Linda Sue Park, is a book based on the true story of Salva's struggles as a Lost Boy. Nya, the other main character, is fictional, but her story is similar to that of many girls in Sudan.

Linda Sue Park and Salva Dut are pictured above.

Read several interesting statistics.