"We thought it was going to be chaos when they got here," says Brianna Higgins, a job developer for the International Rescue Committee, which was assigned 37 of the young men, including Benson, Alepho, Lino and Benjamin. "These men never had any parents. They're all going to get into drugs. They're going to be wild; it's going to be 'Lord of the Flies!' "
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What the Lost Boys of Sudan Found in America
Cover story
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Saturday January 18, 2003 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 12 inches; 431 words Type of Material: Correction
Sudanese refugees -- In the Jan. 5 Magazine article "What the 'Lost Boys' of Sudan Found in America," it was incorrectly stated that one of the Sudanese refugees, Buay Tang, will be shifting from premed studies to a career in acting. He is continuing with his premed studies while also pursuing an acting career.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday February 02, 2003 Home Edition Los Angeles Times Magazine Part I Page 6 Lat Magazine Desk 1 inches; 49 words Type of Material: Correction
In "What the 'Lost Boys' of Sudan Found in America" (Jan. 5), it was incorrectly stated that one of the Sudanese refugees, Buay Tang, will be shifting from premed studies to a career in acting. He is continuing with his premed studies while also pursuing an acting career.
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But then the first of the Lost Boys arrived. They were polite, cordial and smiled easily. "Everyone who meets them falls in love with them right away," says Higgins. "They're honest, they're clean, they're upstanding, dedicated and very, very caring about everybody. They've been able to maintain this purity and innocence that glows. It's a strong testament to the human spirit."
The staff was also surprised by their English skills and their level of education. After nine years in Kakuma schools, most were highly skilled in mathematics, well-versed in science and spoke three or four languages.
Higgins recalls coaching the boys on using the telephone. "I would sit at a desk across the room and give them my extension number. Then I left them alone. They'd stare at the phone. They'd push the buttons without picking up the receiver. I'd say, 'No, you have to pick that up.' Then they'd hold the receiver at arm's length and hold it so long before they dialed that it started buzzing. It made you realize how complicated a telephone is. I had to explain every facet: dial tone, busy signal, how you can't push the buttons down too long, and so on."
Clearly, the Lost Boys were lost, which is how Judy Bernstein came into the lives of Benson, Alepho, Lino and Benjamin. Bernstein is a vivacious 50-year-old blond. She and her husband, a surgeon, and their 13-year-old son live in Rancho Santa Fe, one of the wealthiest white-bread communities in the United States. Bernstein says she volunteered for the work expecting to live out a Big Sister commercial--taking the boys to the zoo, to theme parks, laughing as they flew kites on the beach.
On their first afternoon together, she took them to Wal-Mart for clothes. They gaped at the endless rows of textiles and gadgets, including some that looked like futuristic handguns. "Those are hair dryers," Bernstein explained. Benson couldn't wrap his mind around it. Why would you buy a machine to dry your hair? It dries on its own.
