Lopez Lomong, Sudanese Track Star claimed he was slaved by SPLA

Tue Sep 18, 2007 11:35 pm

Question for those who experienced bush, did SPLA kidnapped young children as it is being run in the media? The post was in HBO/Real Sport Show this evening Sep 18, 07- started from 10pm to 11pm. Lomong claimed in some of an emotional story about how he was kept in a building with no windows, slaved and was given a little food until he fled to Kenya.
I thought that these stories were made up for immigration reasons, to come to America, but not to pursue it, unless if he really suffered from that and wanted to get pay back.

Giir

http://blog.syracuse.com/metrovoices/2007/08/lopez_lomong_competes_in_pan_a.html

Sudanese track star travels to Kenya to meet Mom
Posted by Maureen Sieh August 04, 2007 12:50PM
Categories: sudanese track star
Sudanese track star Joseph Lopepe "Lopez'' Lomong leaves for Kenya Sunday to be reunited with his mother he thought was dead. He will also meet two brothers for the first time.
His trip is sponsored by HBO 's Real Sports program with Bryant Gumbel. The show is doing a documentary about Lopez who has had a successful track career since he arrived in the United States in 2001.
Lopez, an NCAA track star, will be reunited with his mother in Juja, a town less than two hours from Nairobi, Kenya's capital.
His journey began in 1991, when he was separated from his family at age 6.
Lopez, now 22, was separated from his family in Southern Sudan when a group of soldiers took he and about 20 other children. The family were attending a Catholic Mass in the village of Boya when a group of soldiers stormed.
The children were loaded in covered pickup trucks, blindfolded and taken to military prison.He never saw his parents again.
Lopez is one of the 3,800 young men commonly known as the "Lost Boys.'' They spent much of their lives on the run, fleeing war, famine, slavery and living in refugees camps in neighboring Kenya and Ethiopia.
He spent 10 years in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya before he found a home in Central New York in 2001. He's one of six "Lost Boys'' taken in by Robert and Barbara Rogers of Otisco Lake.
Lopez's track career began at Tully High School where he starred in track and cross country, winning a state championship in the 1,600 meters and cross country.
He's one of one of the fastest college distance runners in the country. In June, he won the 1,500 meters at the NCAA track and field competition, representing Northern Arizona University.
He also advanced through the preliminary round of the 800 meters at the U.S. track and field championships, finishing third.
Lopez became a United States citizen July. His goal is to represent the United States in the 2008 Olympic games in Beijing.