I'll admit—I originally wanted to go to a screening of the 2006 Sundance Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award-winning documentary God Grew Tired of Us so badly because Brad Pitt was listed as one of the producers, and I thought he and Angie might show. They didn't—however, it was still worth the bumper-to-bumper drive up the freeway to where the film screened, followed by a panel discussion at the American Jewish University (AJU) in Los Angeles, California.

God Grew Tired of Us follows the lives of three of Sudan's “Lost Boys” as they re-settle in Syracuse, NY and Pittsburgh, Pa. after a decade of living in the harsh Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. The “fish out of water” moments they experience as they encounter American culture—electricity, refrigerators, escalators, doughnuts and a myriad of other daily things we take for granted—are as comedic as they are poignant. The documentary follows their journey into the workforce, their interactions with unfriendly Americans, their loneliness, triumphs, brotherhood and keen desire to help those left behind in the Kakuma camp and in the Sudan. They work two or even three minimum wage jobs at fast-food chains or factories just to send a tiny bit of money back to Africa.

The term Lost Boys, coined by a journalist in the early 1990's, refers to the thousands of young boys who fled their homes in Southern Sudan to travel by foot across Sudan to Ethiopia and then to Kenya, forming new makeshift families of their own. Fleeing was their only option—the Sudanese government decreed that all sons in the Southern region of Sudan were to be sought out and killed.  

After months of trekking through Africa's harsh climate and losing thousands of comrades to hunger and the elements, the boys finally settle in Kenya's Kakuma refugee camp for the next decade. Although Kakuma serves as a respite for the weary Lost Boys, the film illustrates how there is literally nothing to do there once schooling is over and the boys reach their late teens. In 2001, however, the U.S. government agreed to re-settle 3,600 of these boys—now men—in the States so that they could pursue jobs and higher education opportunities.

Deng Chol, one such Lost Boy, moved to Los Angeles to spearhead the newly formed non-profit organization, The Lost Boys and Girls Organization ( www.lostboysandlostgirls.org ) and to receive his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in non-profit management.   Chol introduced the film at the screening and was clearly respected and welcomed by AJU's faculty and staff. The Lost Boys and Girls Organization's mission is simple: to facilitate and improve the lives of the Lost Boys and Girls who are currently living outside Africa as well as to advocate for peaceful policies in the Sudan region—an issue that many Jews take to heart.

God Grew Tired of Us is a beautiful, funny, warm and heartbreaking film not only about how war can affect young people, but also how young people can emerge from the depths of violence with grace, dignity and success.

For more information about the Lost Boys and Girls Organization, and to see how you can make a difference, please visit www.lostboysandlostgirls.org. 

Corey Podell is a freelance writer in Los Angeles, Calif. When she isn't writing, she takes a class at the Groundlings comedy theater and loves working with children.