Samir's Chance to Run (E Book)
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- Samir's Chance to Run
- I am Samir, I'm nine years old and loving it! Right now I'm with my older brother Okot herding cattle. I'm so excited to go home to my tribe the Shiluk, a small tribe in South Sudan. My last name is Ibrahim, named after my grandfather. I can't wait to see my mother and father when I get home, they will be so proud of me for herding cattle they will give me a treat...oranges. I ask Okot, "How long have you been herding cattle for?" (Okot is a good leader), "I started when I was nine like you so mab-" Suddenly there was a crack sound, like gunfire.
- So much walking!
- The sound scared the cattle a little but now Okot was very alert, then... "CRACK-CRACK-CRACK". Gunfire, we hid behind a cow then Okot and I ran into the bush.
- We couldn't go back home because the rebels would be there. The rebels and the government were fighting, I was too young to know why, they just were. We ran until we found a group of people from the Dinka tribe, they were nice so we joined up and kept walking.
- There was a camp in Ethiopia that we were trying to get to. It was a refugee camp, a place where we would be safe from the war. We found a forest and by now more boys had joined the group, We mapped out our route, gathered some food, and slept in the forest dreaming about the next day ahead of us.
- We kept walking and made it to the Nile River! We made some boats and containers because the next day was going to be a hard one, we were about to cross... the Akobo desert, a dry and waterless place full of dangers.
- While me, Okot, and our group were crossing the Akobo we started to get very tired. The heat and the walking are exhausting! But then the rebels find us. They keep us there in the Akobo for a very long time but me, Okot, and the group escape in the night.
- Samir and Okot are not real people, but their journeys and major events are based on real characters, from true books like A Long Walk to Water, by Linda Sue Park. Her book is a true book but some of the details were fictionalized. There was a war in South Sudan, before the war south Sudan was beautiful and nice, but the war came and drove millions of Lost Boys from their homes in Kenya. Many went to refugee camps. There were also Lost Girls who didn't have as great luck as the boys did. Some of the boys did get to go to America and none of the girls did. Samir's Journey shows some of the events that happened to the Lost Boys, like the refugee camps, and the Akobo desert, those things were true just not the characters themselves. I believe that 3rd graders should read this book because It is good to inform kids of the past so that they know what happened and how much better life they have to get to go to school, and that some kids went through really tough times. They need to know about the past so it doesn't repeat in the present. Samir is very dependent at the beginning of the book on his brother, but when his brother dies he learns to be the new leader, the events that happened to Samir shaped him into a stronger person, a more brave person.
- The very next morning I awoke to find that Okot had fallen. he was such a great brother, but the heat had gotten the best of him. He had died an amazing person. "We will be strong and keep moving forward. We lost a good man today but not again. We can do this!" I never knew my voice could be so Loud, but I felt better, we will make it through.
- I saw a dead tree branch and grabbed it I knew I could play a flute, but could I make one? After a while of walking, we made it out of the Akobo desert and my flute had been made. I played my flute while we walked lifting the group's spirits, then I stopped. A little boy cried out, "I see it, I see it!", I looked ahead of me and put the flute down. In front of me was the Itang refugee camp.
- Itang was not a great camp but it was better than walking! But after a while, the government chased us out! We had to run or the government would catch us! But we did me (the new leader) and a group of boys, there was a greater group of boys but we stayed at the end of the line We called the group of boys, the lost boys. I miss my parents, but I will find them, one day.
- The group said that the Kakuma refugee camp was our best bet. So we walked awhile until we got there. I stayed there for a few years but the camp was no good, we barely got any food! We got more food when we spent our time walking than at the camp. There was talk of another camp called Ifo refugee camp, so the lost boys left again and headed to Ifo.
- We walked to the Ifo camp, we were in Kenya, then we went to the camp in Ethiopia, then we came back to Kenya for Kakuma, and now we are still in Kenya. Ifo was a much better camp than Kakuma but still not the best. There I met an aid worker from America named John, he taught me how to play this game called soccer, it was so much fun!
- There was a rumor going around the camp that some of the boys were going to get to go to America! I missed my family badly, but I wanted to go to America to be safe and have a new life! I was now 19 years old. One day I saw my name on this list that said I got to go to America! I had to take a few tests but eventually, I was on a plane to America!
- I can't believe it! America is amazing! It is super cold but amazing! I got to go to a place called Michigan! I have a new foster family and life is amazing!
- I joined a woodworking class, a music class, and a soccer team! I had some pretty rough times but I made it through. I will attend college in a few years and I'm learning to read and write English. I was so lost and scared but now I feel I can do anything.
- Author's NoteThis book was written by Paige Barrett.
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