God Grew Tired of Us / Fadlalla Review

As Fadlalla argued within his discussion of refugees, I agree that NGOs (non governmental organizations) have been playing a larger and more vital role in the effort to alleviate suffering among refugees. However, as Fadlalla discussed, they “often condense the voices of the poor and displace them into a universal ‘suffering form’ in order to attract funding.” This is spot on. I so often see advertisements, documentaries, or presentations about the “poor helpless refugees” and how we must do something to help them. What I most appreciated about God Grew Tired of Us is that it was real. It simply strived to tell the stories about the reality of what the Lost Boys have been through, and it did a wonderful job of emphasizing the hope alive in their spirits. This was the thing that struck me hardest during my adventure in Africa—the hope and joy still very much alive within the people. The people we look to as desolate and violent are in reality caring, compassionate, loving, and zealous. I loved the scenes in God Grew Tried of Us of the refugee camps; as heartbreaking as the reality of this camp is, it was refreshing to see the boys depicted as loving and caring—not as war criminals.

Another aspect of Fadlalla’s discussion I connected with was “the life histories of these Lost Boys of Sudan were reduced to a narrative.” It troubles me how often we see refugee’s stories being shared in the media. I am by no means trying to say we should not share these stories, because they are powerful and deserve to be told. What I am saying is that these stories should not be clumped together to construct an identical identity for refugees as a whole. Our job should not be to bundle all refugees together and attempt to help them collectively. As God Grew Tired of Us showed, each refugee has an individual story, and I’m realizing that the key to helping is to discover each refugee’s unique story and only from there may we begin identifying needs.