A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Parker
A Long Walk to Water is a book about the Sudan
Civil War in the 1980s between the Nuer and Dinka tribes. Sudan is a country
that is located in Africa. The War took place in South Sudan because both
tribes wanted to rule the southern part of Sudan. All the fighting lead up to dead
villagers, sick people from filthy water, and lost young boys that fled to eastern
countries. They had to travel to countries such as Ethiopia and Kenya to find
shelter. There were refugee camps in Kenya that most of the boys went to for
shelter. These boys were called, “the Lost Boys of Sudan.” In the book, there
is a character that is in the Nuer tribe, and there is another character that
is in the Dinka tribe.
Nya
Nya is a
fictional character from A Long Walk to
Water. Nya is an eleven year old girl from 2008 that had to walk long distances to get water from
the pond every day for her family. She has a brother, a sister, and two parents in the story. Nya is from
the Nuer tribe and she has a fear of Dinka tribesmen. There is not
that much to her story because in each chapter of the book has a short story
about her.
Salva Dut Mawien Ariik
Salva is a real
character from A Long Walk to Water. Salva was a young boy from the Dinka tribe
that grew up in a village in South Sudan called, "Loun-Ariik" and he is a very important person to
that village because he is the grandson of the man that Loun-Ariik is named
after. When he was eleven, he was at school while the war was going on. He ran
away from the violence at the school and the village. He met new friends and
followed other people to be safe. Later on in the story, he found his uncle Jewiir
along with the people that he was following. Salva felt safe because his uncle
used to be in the army. His uncle was killed by Nuer tribesmen as they were traveling.
When
Salva fled to Kenya, he joined one of their refugee camps. He learned how to
speak English and play volleyball by Irish aid workers. Salva was sent to live in Rochester,
New York in the United States of America so he can have a new family. He was adopted
by people that he did not know and he finished his education in America. Even though
Salva had a new family, he found out that his father was still alive but that
he was sick. He visited his father in the hospital in Sudan and he told Salva about the
family and that he has only one brother that is still alive. All the rest of
his brothers joined the war and died. Salva used to go to American schools and tell
children about his story. Today, Salva has a company called, “Water for Sudan”
which is made to provide fresh drinking water from wells.
You can buy the book by pressing the link below
