A Long Walk to Water: The Story of One of The Lost Boys of Sudan
On Sunday, June 22 at 12:15pm, Calvary Episcopal Church, 20 Milton Street at South Cayuga Road, Williamsville, will present its 14th Common Ground lecture, featuring Salva Dut, the Founder and Chief Strategy Director for Water for South Sudan, Inc. Salva is the inspiration and vision behind this humanitarian not-for-profit organization providing access to fresh water and hygiene education in remote villages of his native South Sudan.
At eleven years old Salva became one of about 20,000 “Lost Boys of Sudan,” who were among four million refugees displaced in the brutal civil war. Enduring every hardship, from loneliness, hunger and thirst, to attacks by armed rebels and contact with killer lions and crocodiles, they crossed 1,000 miles on foot to safety in Ethiopia.
Five years later, escaping an Ethiopian civil war, Salva led a group of 1,500 boys on another 800-mile desert trek to a UN camp in Kenya. Later, as one of 3,800 of the Lost Boys who came to the United States, Salva settled in Rochester, NY. Returning to search for his family, Salva was determined to help his people. With help from his Rochester friends, Salva founded Water for South Sudan, which has drilled over 640 water wells, serving hundreds of thousands of people.
The book A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park tells Salva's story. Copies of the book will be available for sale, and Salva will sign books for those who wish. A light lunch will be provided at 11:30 am prior to the start of the program with a question-and-answer period, to conclude by 1:30pm.
The program is free, and any contributions will benefit Salva's organization, Water for South Sudan. Limited parking for those with mobility issues is available in the church parking lot, with elevator access through the double doors. Additional parking is available on the street as well as in the Municipal Parking Lot on South Cayuga Road. For additional information please call 716-633-7800 or general@calvaryepiscopal.net.
Event Links
Website: https://go.evvnt.com/3057578-0
Facebook: https://go.evvnt.com/3057578-2