Benson Deng’s Followers (29)

Benson Deng

Born

Bahr el Ghazal, South Sudan

Genre

Memoir, Biography

edit data

Benson Deng (born 1984) is a South 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 (2005).

The story begins when Benson was seven years old, as part of the Dinka tribe. Sudanese National Islamic militants attacked his village, Juol, Sudan, and he fled with his brother and cousin at the age of five. Wearing only his underwear he, along with thousands of other boys, traveled a thousand miles across Sudan to Ethiopia on foot, without parents, facing crocodiles, yellow fever, chronic hunger and thirst, and militants along the way. Refugee camps which he arrived at like Panyido were already crowded, and contained 50,000 people or more.

In Ethiopia, he learned the Benson Deng (born 1984) is a South 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 (2005).

The story begins when Benson was seven years old, as part of the Dinka tribe. Sudanese National Islamic militants attacked his village, Juol, Sudan, and he fled with his brother and cousin at the age of five. Wearing only his underwear he, along with thousands of other boys, traveled a thousand miles across Sudan to Ethiopia on foot, without parents, facing crocodiles, yellow fever, chronic hunger and thirst, and militants along the way. Refugee camps which he arrived at like Panyido were already crowded, and contained 50,000 people or more.

In Ethiopia, he learned the English alphabet by writing with his finger in the sand, using limited materials from the UN. He was forced out of Ethiopia when militants attacked the camp that he was staying at very near the border, at the River Gilo. Benson arrived in Natinga after, a rebel army camp. Promised that he would be arriving in a safe camp with education, he was disappointed to see that he was instead led to do manual labor, and fight for the rebel cause. He escaped after his relatives left the camp, in a group of 12 boys. Seeing that people had died while resting in shade after a long trek, he left his resting group and marched alone to safety.He reached Kenya met his family 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 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. ...more

Combine Editions
Benson Deng’s books

Average rating: 4.21 · 10,043 ratings · 799 reviews · 2 distinct works • Similar authors

	They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan by Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng, Benjamin Ajak 4.22 avg rating — 10,259 ratings — published 2005 — 27 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky: The Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan by Benjamin Ajak, Benson Deng, Alephonsion Deng really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

Quotes by Benson Deng (?)

“hour she’d”
― Benson Deng, They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan

2 likes

Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Around the World ...: Connie's Never-Ending Challenge 2011-2014	133	293	Nov 24, 2014 11:35AM
The History Book ...: * SUDAN	61	336	Dec 30, 2016 01:59PM
Around the World ...: Diane - Circumnavigator	74	443	Jun 08, 2019 08:39AM
Goodreads Italia: Newsletter gennaio 2020	22	706	Feb 02, 2020 10:52AM

More…

Is this you? Let us know. If not, help out and invite Benson to Goodreads.

Benson Deng’s Followers (29)

Benson Deng

Combine EditionsBenson Deng’s books

Topics Mentioning This Author

Combine Editions
Benson Deng’s books