The Sudanese fled their homes as young boys when Muslim forces from northern Sudan began attacking southern villages, many of them Christian, in an attempt to establish a Muslim government throughout the country. The boys fled on foot to a camp in Ethiopia, but a civil war there forced them south to the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, which holds nearly 70,000 people, said Sue Cook, executive director of Catholic Human Development. Many of the refugees were from Christian families, and most of the others became Christians while living in Ethiopia. Those that hoped survived. Life in the United States has been a welcome relief from the years of violence and uncertainty.
People are protected, they are secured.
The climate is not quite so welcome however, he added. When I came, I was not expecting that the place I came to would be very cold. Meshach-Mayom agrees and argues that he will believe that Michigan has hot summers when he sees it. Calvin sophomore Tim Paauw has been visiting the refugees since the first of them arrived in December. They tell me how much God has blessed them in their life and how amazing it's been.