Emerson students were riveted by the story of how Bol Aweng made it to America.
Fourth grade magnet teacher Melissa Taylor arranged for a moving visit on May 8 from Bol Aweng, one of the “Lost Boys of Sudan.” He appeared courtesy of the school’s PTA.
Aweng fled his country of Southern Sudan in 1987, along with 35,000 other Lost Boys. While in a refugee camp in Kenya, he developed his art skills on his own from his memory and imagination, using material available in the camp. Many of his paintings tell the story of the Lost Boys, which he calls The Journey of Hope. “Painting the obstacles that we faced is very difficult, but I think of it as an opportunity to reflect on God’s provision to us during that time,” he said. Aweng graduated from The Ohio State University in 2009, where he majored in Fine Art. He returned to his home in Southern Sudan in 2007 and 2010. Along with Jok Dau, Aweng is currently raising funds to hire a nurse/midwife and lab technician and buy medical equipment and supplies for the health clinic that they built in their village of Piol. Aweng lives in Columbus, Ohio with his wife, daughter and three sons. Learn more at http://bolaweng.com/about-bol-aweng-2/.