Yar Ayuel is happily married, has three children, a college degree, and a good job. It’s a life she could not have imagined when, about 20 years ago, she and her little brother walked for weeks across deserts and through wilderness, trying to elude northern Sudanese militia and wild animals, with hunger and thirst their constant companions.
Today, she works in development for the Unitarian Universalist Association, which serves local congregations. She’s taking courses at University of Massachusetts Lowell, hoping to earn an MBA.
Yar Ayuel and her husband Emmanuel Deng are members of Grace Church in Everett. Deng is a Lost Boy who is now working for the Department of Corrections and studying for a master's degree at Suffolk.
Only 89 “Lost Girls” were sent here to live with foster families, and Ayuel is one of them. Her story of survival against all odds is both brutal and poignant, with hardships that could have felled even the toughest adult survivalist. The journey encompasses the worst of mankind and the best, family lost and found, and at the center is a resilient little girl who refused to let herself or her younger brother die.
Because of her remarkable journey, Ayuel, 30, participated Friday in a panel discussion in Washington about the plight of women refugees. She met the president and first lady at the White House Correspondents dinner last week.
Click the link above to read Yar's incredible story.