James Mut
Age: 23
Region: Upper Nile
My mother, six brothers and five sisters are all alive and living in Sudan. I was 7
when the Northern Military started shooting people in my village. I ran with all the
other people.
We walked for six months to Ethiopia. Sometimes we walked in water or had to
swim through a river. If you couldn’t swim, you died. We had no food. We slept on
the road. We were often ambushed by bombs and guns. I lived three years in
Ethiopia, but had to leave due to the government collapse and walked another seven
months back to Sudan.
We arrived at the border town of Pochala where we lived for five months. We were
attacked and chased and were chased tot the Gilo River where they continued to
ambush us. We had to swim across the river or be shot. Many people jumped in and
drowned because the river was too fast. I survived and we went to another border
town, Pertgeto, where we were ambushed again and walked nine more months to
the Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya.
I lived in Kakuma for nine years with my 14 year old cousin. I went to school in the
camp and learned English. There was never enough food or water. There were
refugees from many different countries. I built my own house and helped lots of
people build their own houses.
I arrived in the U.S. on 9/11/2001. We could not land and had to go to Italy for two
weeks before we could come back. American people are good people. I’ve learned a
little about American culture. Everyone has freedom. I feel safer here. One of the
things that surprises me is that you don’t have to pay for a wife in America. In Africa
you pay by giving cows to her family.
I’ve been working at the Boulders Resort Spa for three years. I also study journalism
and photography at Phoenix College. I want to become a photojournalist and
document the war. I’d like to work for the U.S. and take pictures.