God Grew Tired of Us
Vocabulary
• Migration- the movement of people from one place in the
world to another for the purpose of taking up permanent
or semipermanent residence, usually across a political
boundary
• Emigrant- a person who leaves a country to reside in
another
• Immigrant- a person who enters a new country from
another to take up residence
• Refugee - a person who enters a new country from
another to take up residence
• Diaspora - the scattering of a population from its
traditional homeland, usually due to involuntary (forced or
impelled) migration
• Resettlement - official policy of moving refugees to new,
permanent homes, usually in a different country
Activity 1
Click here for video
Answer the following Questions on
your notebook paper:
• Why did the Lost Boys have to flee their
homes?
• Why couldn’t they stay in Ethiopia?
• What was life like in the refugee camp?
• What new things did they experience on the
journey from Kenya to the United States?
Activity 2
Cultural Identity, Cultural
Differences, and CommunityBuilding
Vocabulary
• Cultural identity - a sense of personal connection with a
particular culture group
• Assimilation - change of lifestyle in which immigrants give
up their traditional culture and follow the ways of their
adopted country (sometimes called the “melting-pot”
approach)
• Acculturation – change of lifestyle in which immigrants
adapt to the ways of their adopted country enough to fit in
and support themselves, but maintain as much of their own
traditions as possible (sometimes called the “salad bowl”
approach)
• Cultural landscape - the evidence of human activity on a
physical environment
• Cultural marker – events or facets of society that
distinguishes one culture from another
Sudan: Sense of Place and Community
Click here for video
Sudan: Cultural Differences
Click here for video
Sudan: Responsibility and Leadership
Reflect and Discuss
• What have you learned about Dinka culture?
What markers are representative of Dinka
culture? Of American culture? What values do
the Lost Boys hold? How do those values
compare with your own?
• What questions and fears do the Lost Boys
have about life in the U.S.? What questions
and fears would you have if you were moving
to a new country? What differences do you
see between Dinka culture and American
culture? What are some of the challenges the
Lost Boys encounter? How do they adapt to
life in the United States (think in terms of both
assimilation and acculturation)? How do you
think you would adapt to life in a new place?
• What community-building strategies have the
Lost Boys practiced both within the refugee
camps and once resettled in the United
States?
• What community-building strategies have
been practiced among the Lost Boys and the
communities into which they settled?
• What sense of responsibility do the Lost Boys
feel toward each other and toward their
families and friends still in Africa? In what
ways are they trying to improve their own
lives and those of their families and friends?
What can students do to make a difference in
their own community?