Blog
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John Dau at the Clinic
January 7, 2010
The following is a post from Jan. 3, 2009
John Dau left Duk yesterday, heading back to the U.S. after spending a month in South Sudan, meeting with other NGOs, government officials, viewing the clinic, spending time with family and friends, and discussing the future.
Every trip around the village brought long greetings with often large groups of people, happy to see their prodigal son returned home. In a place of very tall people, John is one of the tallest.
Walking across the dirt paths of his home, pointing out where his family used to dig in the sand a few feet to get water, discussing “cattle camp,” recalling the names and characteristics of every bird, tree, and animal around, you can still see the skinny young boy growing up in Duk. But now he stands a tall man, who has endured a world of trials since then, and has come back to the place where his life began. In doing so he brought something he nor anyone else there could have imagined, and something that no one here is ever to forget.
There was little doubt that he may be Duk’s favorite son, as he was continually thanked for his work in founding and guiding the John Dau Foundation. The Duk Lost Boys Clinic was the second building constructed in Duk Payuel, after the church, since people began returning there after the civil war ended and the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed in 2005. Since the Clinic opened, it has received more than 27,000 patient visits.Something was clear though—this trip wasn’t as much about celebrating success, but just as much about talking about the future. A future made brighter by John’s work.
