What is the What? by Dave Eggers

A while back I read the book God Grew Tired of Us and watched the documentary based on the book.  (See my review here.)  These tell the stories of some of the Lost Boys of Sudan.  More recently, I read The Devil Came on Horseback, in which an American, a former soldier, assists the African Union in the Darfur region of Sudan as an observer, gaining a first-hand glimpse of the genocide.  (There was a film made of this book, too.) These and other stories out of southern Sudan tell much about what is wrong with the human condition, while giving confidence in the resiliency of the human spirit and reason to hope for a future of forgiveness and reconciliation.

Add to these stories the story of Valentino Achak Deng, one of the Lost Boys.  With the help of novelist Dave Eggers, he tells his story in a moving, gripping way.  Achak and Eggers met through the Lost Boys Foundation, which was founded and run by Mary Williams, Jane Fonda's adopted daughter.  Williams called Eggers, asking him to meet with Achak and consider chronicling his story.  They decided to include historical and political background and to expand on Achak's experiences, turning into a sort of autobiographical novel.

The title is from an old creation story Achak hears from his father.  As his last act of creation, God said, "I can give you one more thing. . . . You can either have these cattle, as my gift to you, or you can have the What."  Man asked, "What is the What?"  God replied, "I cannot tell you. . . . You have to choose between the cattle and the What."  Considering the attributes and benefits of the cattle, man chose cattle.  And because man was content with what God had given, "God has allowed us to prosper.  The Dinka live and grow as the cattle live and grow."    In the Dinka version most often told, "God had given the What to the Arabs, and this was why the Arabs were inferior."

When Achak was just a boy, the Arabs began their attacks, determined to purge non-Arabs, non-Muslims from southern Sudan.  Rebels fought the government soldiers in a long, drawn out war.  Many villages were destroyed altogether.  Even thought the rebels ostensibly tried to defend the rights of non-Arabs, they were, in many cases worse than the government soldiers and the raiding tribes supported by the government.

Achak fled his village, embarking on foot on a trek from Marial Bai, in southwestern Sudan, to a refugee camp in Ethiopia.  Conditions along this journey of hundreds of miles can't be imagined by most of us.  The travellers, mostly young boys, most of whom had witnessed the horrors of their parents being murdered, their homes and villages being burned, and worse.  Along the way, the boys (there were some girls and adults, too) suffered every kind of deprivation, going days without food or water, most without shoes, many without clothes.  Many died along the way of starvation, disease, drowning or being eaten by crocodiles while crossing rivers, or being carried off by lions.

When they finally arrived at a refugee camp at Pinyudo, Ethiopia, conditions did not quickly improve.  While there was some degree of security, and some food and other assistance from NGOs, the Sudanese rebels made their presence known and came to rule the camp, bringing it into the conflict.  Achak and the others were forced to flee, and, after another grueling journey, ended up at another refugee camp in Kakuma, Kenya.

Achak lived at Kakuma for many years.  When Lost Boys began coming to the United States, he, of course, hoped to go.  After years of wondering whether his parents were alive, he learned that they had survived and were trying to rebuild their lives in Marial Bai.  Soon after, he was accepted to go to the U.S.  He managed to speak to his father by CB, asking if he should come home to Marial Bai.  His father raised his voice, "You have to go, boy.  Are you crazy?  This town [Marial Bai] is still ashen from the attack.  Don't come here.  I forbid it.  Go to the United States.  Go there tomorrow."  He insists; Achak starts to resist: "But father, what--"  His father interrupts, "Yes, the What.  Right.  Get it.  This is it.  Go."

Following Achak's story and experiences, What is the What tells the story of the Lost Boys, taking the reader into the world and the mind of these refugees.  Most of us, thankfully, will never experience what they've gone through.  Reading their experiences helps me appreciate the coddled, easy life we experience in the U.S. and challenges me to expand my perspective to engage the needs of others.  I remember when we lived in Grand Rapids, a group of Lost Boys moved to town.  Some good friends of ours sponsored a group of them and told great stories about teaching them about the simple, daily tasks we take for granted.  What is the What tells some of those stories and so much more.  I highly recommend this difficult but ultimately encouraging story.

Eggers and Achak at the construction site of a new school in Marial Bai

Achak and Eggers started a foundation to assist Sudanese refugees and promote development in Marial Bai.  That must be immensely satisfying for Achak to be able to make such a huge difference in his hometown.  Read about the foundation and his work here.