Community Event at Shady Side Academy
Pittsburgh Refugee Center
We would like to call your attention to a wonderful event taking place
Wednesday, April 4 at Shady Side Academy. Please see the following
for more details. If you would like more information, please see the
school's website at www.shadysideacademy.org, or contact these
individuals:
Melinda Miller or Jamie Brush
Telephone: 412.968.3236 (Miller) or 412.968.3010 (Brush)
Email: mmi...@shadysideacademy.org or jbr...@shadysideacademy.org
PHONE INTERVIEWS: Authors available for telephone interviews prior to
event.
Student Interest Impetus for Sudanese Refugee's Visit to Shady Side
Academy
Benjamin Ajak and Judy A. Bernstein co-authors of "They Poured Fire on
Us from the
Sky - The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan" to speak to
students and at
public gathering.
Pittsburgh* In a collaboration between the Shady Side Academy Middle
and Senior
School Libraries and the Senior School History Department, two authors
of "They
Poured Fire on Us From the Sky" will speak in the Richard E. Rauh
Theater at the
Hillman Center for Performing Arts on the Senior School Campus of
Shady Side
Academy. On the evening of April 4, co-authors Benjamin Ajak and Judy
A. Bernstein
will be on the Senior School campus for a community-wide event,
discussing their
experiences, answering questions, and engaging the audience in a
conversation about
the current crisis in Darfur. This event will begin at 7 PM and is
free and open to
the public.
In addition to the public evening discussion, the authors will visit
history classes
at the Senior School and will have lunch with faculty and students at
both the
Middle and Senior Schools of Shady Side Academy on April 3 and 4.
Community
sponsors for this event are Pittsburgh Darfur Emergency Coalition and
the Pittsburgh
Refugee Center.
The impetus for the visit comes from Shady Side Academy students.
Josh Diggs '08
read the book shortly after Senior School Librarian Reed Williams
added it to the
library collection. Mr. Diggs was moved by the story and recommended
that Ms.
Williams also read it. Ms. Williams, in turn, spoke with 8th graders
about it and
had the book added to the summer 2006 reading list. Through word-of-
mouth about the
book, enthusiasm grew to help raise awareness about the situation in
Sudan. As a
result, the authors will speak with 8th graders at the Middle School
and with Senior
School History students, in addition to the public event on the
evening of the 4th.
They Poured Fire On Us From the Sky is the story of Benjamin Ajak,
Alepho Deng, and
Benson Deng, who were raised among the Dinka tribe of Sudan. Their
world was an
insulated, close-knit community of grass-roofed cottages, cattle
herders, and tribal
councils. They co-authored the book with Judy A. Bernstein who they
met through her
volunteer work at the International Rescue Committee in San Diego.
Their world changed the night the government-armed Murahiliin began
attacking their
villages. Amid the chaos, screams, conflagration, and gunfire, five-
year-old Benson
and seven-year-old Benjamin fled into the dark night. Two years later,
Alepho, age
seven, was forced to do the same. Across the Southern Sudan, over the
next five
years, thousands of other boys did likewise, joining this stream of
child refugees
that became known as the Lost Boys.
In They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky, Alepho, Benson, and Benjamin,
by turn,
recount their experiences along this unthinkable journey. They vividly
recall the
family, friends, and tribal world they left behind and their desperate
efforts to
keep track of one another. The book is a powerful portrait of war as
seen through
the eyes of children.
Alephonsion and Benson Deng, and their cousin Benjamin Ajak were
relocated from the
Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya to the United States as part of an
international
refugee relief program. They arrived in 2001. Now all in their mid-
twenties,
Benjamin, Benson, and Alephonsion live in San Diego, California.
As always, thank you for your continued support of the Pittsburgh
Refugee Center.
Khadra Mohammed
Executive Director
Pittsburgh Refugee Center