Lost Boys Oral History Project
Basic Individual Information
1. Please state your name and its spelling.
2. Is this the name you were given at birth?
3. Do you know when you were born and where?
4. If not, were you assigned a birthday?
5. Do you know the names of your parents and where they were born?
6. Do you have any sisters or brothers? How many altogether?
7. We’ve read there are many tribes in Sudan, do you belong to a certain tribe?

Growing Up in their Native Land/Everyday Life
1. What do you remember most about growing up in your village?
2. Can you describe a typical day in your country for you? What type of activities did you
do? Chores? Games? Family time?
3. What are some of your earliest memories of your village?
4. Was there school in your village?
5. What do you remember about your childhood friends?
6. Where did you play?
7. What activities did you and your friends do?
8. When you think back about growing up in your country, what types of foods come to
mind? For example, what would be a typical breakfast? A typical lunch or dinner?
9. What kinds of activities did you do at home?
10. Can you tell me about responsibilities at home that you and your brothers/sisters may
have had?
11. How did these responsibilities differ between boys and girls?

12. Can you tell me about the jobs of your mother and father and their roles in the family?
13. Can you me about your please describe your interactions with people who were not of
your same culture?

Remembering Your Family
1. Do you know the names of your parents and where they were born?
2. Do you have any sisters or brothers?
3. How many altogether?
4. What are their names, in order of birth?
5. Can you please describe this house that you grew up in?
6. Were your parents able to own the house and land?
7. What memories do you have of your mother?
8. What memories do you have of your father?
9. Have you been able to see them again?

Wartime Experiences
1. Can you tell me where you were when you first heard of the war?
2. Where were you when the soldiers entered your village? Can you tell me about what you
heard, saw and felt?
3. Can you tell me what you did? What you thought at the time?
4. Can you tell me any stories of other boys who survived from your village or villages
around you?
5. Before your village was attacked, how did you know or hear about the war?
6. How were you separated from your family?
7. Was any part of your family active in the war? How?
8. Can you tell me what were you thinking when you had to leave your village and family?

9. Was there a time after you left your village that you felt safe?
10. What experiences did you encounter on the journey to the camp?
a. Relations
b. Violence
c. Conditions
d. Sickness

Refugee Camps
1. How many refugee camps did you live in? Can you describe them?
2. How long did it take you to get there?
3. How did you feel being in the refugee camps?
4. What was a normal day in the camps? How was camp life? Were there any roles?
5. Can you tell me about the food in the camps?
6. What was education like in the camp?
7. Was there any recreation? Like what?
8. What type of shelter/conditions did they provide in the camps?
9. Can you tell me of any family reunions in the camp?
10. Are there still people in the camps today that were there when you were?
11. Were there any girls in the camp? How did you interact/relate with them?
12. What was a typical day in the camp like?

Life in the U.S.
1. When did you first find out you were coming to the U.S?
2. Were you one of the first one’s chosen to come to the U.S?
3. Can you describe journey to the United States?
4. What city and state were you placed in?
5. When you stepped off the plane, what were some of you first impressions?
6. Can you describe your first home in the U.S?
7. Can you talk about some of the challenges you faced when you came to America?
8. What are some of your favorite moments since living in the U.S?
9. Can you tell me about your first job you had in the U.S?
10. Have you gone to school?

11. Are you married? If so, where did you meet your wife? How long have you been
married?
12. What do you hope to accomplish in the U.S?

Returning to Sudan
1. Have you returned to Sudan since moving to the United States?
2. Can you describe the experience of returning to Sudan and your feelings?
3. What do you tell people in Sudan about experiences in U.S?
4. What are some things that you miss about your homeland?
5. Have you traveled back to the refugee camps?
6. Can you describe that experience?

Being remembered
1. How would you like to be remembered?
2. What would you want your grandchildren to know about you.

End of Interview
Our interview is finished now. Thank you for your time.