Thank you.
Mhm.
Okay. Great. So um so now uh again so you were in Cairo and you get to
Cairo and you're there. You sit for about a year. No I
I stayed in Egypt for about 10 years ago. Oh you stayed in Egypt 10 years.
10 years. Yeah. But you went to school for? I went to school. Okay. You
went to school there? Okay.
So I finished great one in Khartoum Sudan. Okay. Great cartoon. And then
and then I continue my education inherited. You're nervous? OK. So 3rd
grade. Okay. And then in 2004 that's when I joined a refugee school. Mhm
belong to ensure that it was funded United Nations office.
They instructed the neighbors who are you living with until you join the
refugee school. Like in that period where you went to, I was with my
relatives. Your relatives and my sister came along to myself with mankind.
Okay. Okay. And then the school. Uh I mean let me ask this first. So
you're there without your parents. Right. And what was that like for you
and your sister? I mean living without your parents living with. Did you
understand that? It was necessarily where you we understood it was mainly
for education Reason why my current 70 to go to in the first place was for
school. They trust our relatives that we could stay within the protectors
supporters. So it was the same
realization and mindset. My sister and I go into Skype we're still with
relatives. But the main objective was for us to find safety impossible.
High school. So yeah there were much and relatives were nice.
Get intrigued as any different parents were. Yeah. Okay. So then your
parents come, your family gets reunited when you go to Cairo. No. No they
they never came to always they always do. Okay. And did they have to live
while you were there in car? Were they living through the civil war itself
? He did. Mhm. And were you in contact with him?
No, not very much. We would maybe try zar once years. Oh and how would you
didn't have phones in the south? Right. How would you communicate with
them? It was
because they would they would come to the to our Children once in a while.
They were before that my parents. All right. The rest will be just family
members of. Okay.
But then when you went to Cairo and they never came there. And were you
able to communicate with them when you were in Cairo or you work? That's
if they make a visit to cartoon because that's where they could find
phones. Remember that was back. Yes. It's not now now they have mobile
phones. So they would have to basically go to cartoon and they could call
you in Egypt and you would communicate with them there. And how often was
that? Once or twice a year? Also not very often. Yeah. So you were in
Cairo then. Uh and you were there for you said for 10 years and years.
Yeah. Okay. And tell me a little bit about this school, you talked about
the sort of the refugee school. What was that like? It was diverse. They
recruited and a refugee Children from all over Cairo. There were Cubans
there, there were Richmond's, there were companies, but it's also the
knees,
they have a lot of resources to the it would be more of like what you're
tangled up here as a charter school. Uh, the syllabus is what the school
wants to be. Okay. It's not a government second was a dreadful and yeah,
okay, They didn't have enough resources for higher four times teachers. So
they were like to volunteer
staff. Oh, they did. They realized volunteer staff. Mostly it would be
people. English speaking countries like U. S. Citizens, UK citizens
visiting Cairo, especially those who work chair organizations, they would
come in and change from the main focus was in on english helping refugee
kids, you know, change the level of english, horrible. So that when they
get resettled in english speaking countries that are easily
can system. So you were learning english from, from like a mix of
different english speakers. I mean in other words, sometimes in America
and sometimes a brit right
focus in benchmark for the buddy system. Okay, that was a british racing.
Okay, okay. And you said the school was funded by uh, by the, by the
church. It was, it was a church that provided facilities. Were there a lot
of students there? There are a lot of students. There are a lot of
students they kept growing as refugees from different countries came into
Egypt after the arab spring? There's a lot of refugees from Syria. A lot
of refugees from. Mhm. Mhm. Yeah. So you were there? You would've been.
Yeah.
When did the one of the arab spring begin was the incident? Yeah. Wait, do
something.
No, no, no. It it must be 2000 and 10 or 11. I know when the Egyptian one
started, it was january 25th 2011. The there because that was there and it
was right after the tunisian revolution.
Yeah. And um and so you were there uh in this refugee school and you were
living with relatives. But going to that school. Okay. And was the plan
all along to try to get you to the United States? That was that was the
goal. That's why you would think that to that school. Okay. And how long
were you at this refugee school From 2004 all the way to 2011. Quite a
while quite a while. Yeah. Did you make close friends at the school? Other
refugees there? Yeah. Are you still friends with some of these were
friends actually from school? Yeah. I'm still in touch with you actually
came into the US. Uh I have some that are the others are different things
who went to that same refugees.
What did you having having fled south Sudan And um uh, and knowing at
least rewarded mouth that there were still civil war. And so it's over. Um
, when the airstream arrived in Cairo there was the uprising marches. What
did that seem like to you that were you fearful that it was going to be
another war? Were you old enough to appreciate At least in theory what
people thought was going to happen? Yeah. 11. Too much mature. Always
going. It sounds like reminding me of what was going on in Sudan that no
one, no society was in conflict. It could happen to everyone because the
perception growing up as a refugee locals didn't appreciate that they did
not understand what it meant to be refugees? Mm hmm. Yeah. Political
statement. Yeah. So not that I wish them any bad but revolution happened
for me. That was more of like a reminder of like here you are wondering
why I was here in your country now. Now it's happening here. That's that's
exactly, that's that's why I'm here and not in my country because of such
things. You know, social revolutions conflict. I understood I understood
why people went to Tahrir Square and they were asking mhm To step down
because it reminded me of what happens. Did you know people who went to
their spare?
Were you old enough that you would have known someone that was actually
participating in it or not.
They were in refugee community is going to be super. It was purely local
Egyptians. Absolutely no refugee wanting to get involved in that could be
sympathetic towards protesters, but it was mainly Egyptians, huh, Yeah, I
think I know that you're aware of it because of what because of news
stories or news of scuffling news. And there were people, you know,
thanks to my area going to Tirana Square. So you would see passing through
passing through a terrorist. I did visit because they stayed there for a
while. They stayed a terrorist square for a while before regime. I did
visit in France and china. I walked by. I just wanted to see what this
word. And but were you afraid or make you fearful? Did you think things
are unraveling everything on the table? Yeah, they were fear that we're
actually doing
so the police would, you know, was withdrawn from the streets in the army
and military to over there was chaos. People robbing shops, burglars were
taking place. And that was a fear actually. I remember some community
members had to check security measures into their hands and they would
hold sticks and machetes
you in your community, in your neighborhood on the streets at night
protecting community here. Right. And you were told about that time, I was
18. You're 18? Yeah. Okay. So, I mean, so you were definitely worth it?
Was it? Was there uh were you worried at all at that point about your own
status? In other words I'm a refugee here in Cairo. I'm just trying to
eventually get somewhere else safer. And all of this madness is going on
around me. Were fearful at all that it was threatening your own status. I
don't think it was.
Maybe it's here is the living. To my understanding is of course something
like that could have happened because every team must be talking. But it
wasn't just come up here, right? But it wasn't necessarily something. Yeah.
Yeah. I wasn't thinking about it. I think I was just busy, you know,
experience in what was going on. Which in my mind I thought it was just
Egyptians that had nothing to do with me. Yeah. Because actually it's
interesting you bring up that question with you.
Yeah, sort of the tumult of it. I mean it's kind of like refugees here in
the United States now. Of course, no. During most of the Obama
administration you may have felt a certain level of security and maybe now
they don't. Yeah because of this new president, his whole attitude. So
there's a bit of upheaval that's occurring And marches and so forth. uh so
then okay so then so then when do you leave Cairo? When when I left in
August 12 August 12 2011 left cargo to Juba. Mhm. Because I had got in
this full scholarship to go finish my high school in Johannesburg South
africa. Oh okay. I have to go to juvie. It's like.