John Dau Foundation

Started by “Lost Boy” and genocide survivor John Dau, the John Dau Foundation provides healthcare in the once war-torn region of Duk County, South Sudan.  In 1987, John Dau fled Duk, which was overrun by Sudanese government troops.  He eventually arrived at the Kukuma refugee camp in Kenya in 1992 and was chosen with 140 other “Lost Boys of Sudan” to go to Syracuse, New York, in 2001.

The John Dau Foundation built and supports the Duk Lost Boys Clinic—the first medical facility ever in the region.  The Clinic receives 75 to 100 patients daily and has provided more than 20,000 patients with lifesaving medical care. Some 17 American doctors have traveled to South Sudan to work from one to four months in the Clinic since it opened in 2007.

The care provided by the Clinic is crucial to the people of Duk County.  For example, Clinic staff recently treated a two and a half-year-old boy with second-degree burns covering his body. Scalding water accidentally spilled on him while his mother cooked a meal.  Even in the best equipped hospitals, these injuries might be fatal. But Clinic staff members, aided by equipment and supplies given through contributions by supporters, were able to repair much of the injured skin, and the boy is expected to return to full health.

In 2006, John Dau’s story was told in the award-winning documentary God Grew Tired of Us. Today, John Dau is an internationally recognized humanitarian and a human-rights activist for the people of South Sudan.