Benson Deng
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Benson Deng is a Sudanese writer and one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. He is best known as the co-author of the book They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys of Sudan.
The story begins when Benson was seven years old. Sudanese National Islamic militants attacked his village and he fled with his two five-year-old cousins. Wearing only his underwear he travelled a thousand miles across Sudan to Ethiopia on foot.
In Ethiopia, he learned the English alphabet by writing with his finger in the sand. Five years later he reached Kenya and began his education again, but he was soon struck with a serious skin illness. This disease, called River Blindness, made it impossible for him to sit and attend class. So for five years he taught himself English. Lying on his stomach in his hut, he would copy essentials of grammar and vocabulary into his hand-written composition book.
Deng arrived to America on August 9, 2001 and began work at a grocery store. Today he runs the computer digital photography system at Waste Management Corporation in El Cajon, California.
Once in America, his brother and cousin began to began writing about their experiences. Joni Evans, VP of William Morris, sold their book to Public Affairs. Released on June 13, 2005, it was entitled: They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan. The paperback will be available in May 2006.
