Sudanese refugee speaks at Warwick middle school

Warwick — It was just days before Christmas, the last day of school for students at Warwick Valley Middle School. There was electricity in the air, but it wasn’t just because the kids were looking at a 12-day break come the end of the day. No, the 120 Gamma 7 students had a special guest coming, one they had read about and had written to, someone who came from half a world away, both literally and figuratively. Riiny Ngot received letters from the Warwick students. They wrote to him after their English teacher, Darryl Wilbur, brought copies of a Times Herald-Record article from early November to them. They read it together. It documented Riiny’s life as a Sundanese refugee: how he, as an 11-year-old child and working on his family’s farm, heard the gunfire that changed his life forever and brought the civil war his family talked about to his village. It is about how he saved his eight-year-old sister, Akuol, from burning to death, and carried her many of the 1,000 miles through the Sahara Desert to a refugee camp in Kenya. Wilbur became interested in the plight of Sudan in 2001 when he read about 3,600 Sudanese orphans who were adopted. He had followed the story ever since. When he read the article in The Record, he thought it would make for a good project for the students. “I grew up in Otisville,” said Wilbur. “Riiny is staying with a family in Otisville that I knew from years ago. I brought the article in and we read it together. They showed a lot of interest so we wrote the letters and sent them.” Riiny came to New York last summer to attend SUNY Orange in Middletown to play basketball. His journey from the Sudan came via Canada where he has relatives. Those relatives checked the refugee list knowing they had family still in the war-torn country. They found Riiny and his sister and brought them to Canada. Riiny spent last year in Massachusetts, which he called the hardest year since leaving his country. “I had no blanket and no family support,” said Riiny. That has all changed. He is living now with Doug and Mary Hutchings and their son, Douglas, in Otisville. At seven feet two inches tall, he is noticed wherever he goes and is popular on campus. He is soft spoken and deeply religious, something he learned from his mother. He was happy to talk to the middle school kids and share his story. “It was tough to talk years ago, but now I am more confident,” he said. Riiny brought a Powerpoint presentation with him to show the kids what life was like for him. “Every picture tells a story,” he said afterwards. He left lots of time for the kids to ask questions, which ranged from what size shoe he wears (19) to his hardest moments. It was a different world that he brought to them. He told of seeing childhood friends killed by lions and alligators. But he has also experienced great joy, like learning that his parents are indeed alive, surviving the attack on their village. His sister stayed in Canada. He saw her last June and would love to see the rest of his family again but school is his priority, his opportunity now. Wilbur said he was pleased with the whole experience. Many of the kids raised money - totaling $306 - and sent it to the non-profit organization, Water for Sudan, which drills fresh water wells for people in the Sudan. Riiny has a cousin and uncle who work for the Ring True Foundation, a non-profit group established by former NBA player Manute Bol that gives aid to refugees of the Sudanese Civil War. Some of the Warwick teachers chipped in and gave Riiny a gift card to Wendy’s, one of his favorite restaurants. Later that night, Riiny had his best game ever with SUNY, scoring 27 points and pulling down 14 rebounds. He left the next day for a trip to visit an uncle in Omaha, Nebraska, and spend the holidays with him. He is back in New York now with his “adoptive” family, the Hutchings, and looking forward to his second semester at school. “It was a wonderful experience all around,” said Wilbur. “It was absolutely worthwhile. And the kids just adored him.” Anyone wishing to make a donation to one of the organizations set up to help the people of Sudan may check out either Web site: www.ringtruefoundation.org, or www.waterforsudan.org.