4B - The Michigan Daily - Thursday, November 4. 2004 _W w w v VwV-VwV V Th Mchgn aiy Th .ician Dail POETRY SLAM NIGHTS OF MUSIC AND VERSE FILL THE U CLUB REFUGEES continued from page 5B didn't know where I was going. I just kept following people. A man and his wife came up and started helping me," Sisimayo said. "I don't even know how much weight I lost. I just knew I was hungry. I felt tired from walking. If you sat down, nobody was going to wait for you," he said. "Everyone was tired." Surviving the entire journey across Sudan into Ethiopia and Kenya on a feeble diet of wild fruits and leaves, Sisimayo felt the echoing pangs of hunger and pain as he trekked what seemed like an endless walk in search of help. "I was always hungry; there was never enough food" he said. The impending dangers of hun- gry wild animals loomed before him and his group as they tirelessly walked into Ethiopia in search of help. Starvation, dehydration and exhaustion were a constant threat. "During this lawns, Sisimayo spent the majority of his preadolescence and young adulthood in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya from 1992 to 2001. He experienced the heartaches of a war-torn nation, assisted in medi- cal camps and grew up fast. In 2001, he was identified offi- cially by the United Nations as part of a group called "The Lost Boys," boys who had been orphaned as a result of the civil war in Sudan. Sisimayo was part of a group of more than 3,000 boys who were permanently relocated to the Unit- ed States. Sisimayo was relocated to Lan- sing in 2001, and currently lives with five other "Lost Boys." "Com- ing to the U.S. at least gave us the hope of what we wanted to be" Sisimayo commented. Back home, when we are approved to come here, you'll find yourself buying a T-shirt with an American flag on it. We buy doo-rags too, you know those things you wear on your head" he said with a slight How could a person who had seen such atrocities say that with such honesty and confidence? "God has a plan for me," he answered simply-almost as if he had read my mind. He spoke with deep conviction as the passion in his eyes contin- ued to testify to his firm faith. "God is always there," he said. "When I was going from town to town, there were people who were dying around me. I think in the presence of God, he guides you. We can't see him in our own naked eyes, but you can feel his presence by his protection. One day, I found myself with nothing to eat, and the next morning, there was food for me. Now that is a miracle." When asked about his thoughts and feelings on the current atroci- ties in Darfur, Sisimayo answered slowly as his past pain rekindled. "Southern Sudan has been crying for equality. It's not right what the government has been doing in Darfur. I believe that humans have God-given rights that people can't just take away. They are killing every human - child, grown-up, old men and women. It's important that humanitarians and superpow- ers of the world get involved," he attested. "Right now there are prob- ably four to five million people who have died. The people in the U.S. can't see us crying for help." Knowing the cries well since they once came from his very mouth, Sisimayo's heart is to return to help his people. "My hope is to go back home," he said. Again, he smiled - but this MIKE HULSEBUS/[wily Clockwise from top: LSA senior Brandon Rawls DJs during a poetry slam at the U Club in the Michigan Union last week. RC sophomore Adam Falkner was a member of last year's slam team, which won second place out of 20 teams in a national college slam competition. Emcee Invincible and Blair of Urban Folk Collective per- form on Oct. 21. A judge holds up her score during a U Club poetry slam. LSA junior Gabriel Peoples performs. I By Steve Cotner Daily Arts Writer month that I was running, if you looked at a young boy running with me, you would have thought that he was an old man" he said. "Southern Sudan has been crying for equality. It's not right ... I believe that humans have God- given rights that people can't just take away." - Sisimayo Henry, Sudanese refugee s historical markers line our streets, telling us that art, activ- ism, and Ann Arbor are dead, we long for the fresh and vital. After an election that never spoke to us, we search for the place where we can hear ourselves. Our own words seem to mean less and less, so we look for the people who can still say some- thing. The academy has severed our heads from our bodies, our buildings from our streets, and our lives from our loves. But we still know what we want. We want rooms full of people, stand- ing, dancing, yelling, singing, clapping, calling our names. We want to make our own awe, inspi- ration, commiseration, seduction. We want words to leave their coffins, hit us once, and fly away like ghosts. We want our samizdat, our under- ground railroad, our Filmore East, and yes, our Six Gallery. We want our Pound, Williams, Bara- ka. Our man on the street and our man upstairs. Our eyes, debauched. Our ears, de-waxed. Our everything all at once. Tonight, we'll settle for a poetry slam. Upcoming Poetry Slams at the U Club in the Michigan Union: Tonight - Special guest poet Nikki Patin takes the stage as well as many others. Nov. 18 - Speaker Omekongo Dib- inga participates in this Environmental Justice themed slam. Dec. 2 - Poet TBA 8 p.m. - Doors open 8:30 p.m. - Open mic 9 p.m. - Poetry Slam 10 p.m. - Guest poet Once they reached the neighbor- ing country, he was again chased out by a separate civil war between the government and rebels in Ethi- opia. "All I had were the clothes on my back" he lamented. Yet even in his story of despair, there were traces of a redeeming rock-steady hope that shone brighter the more intimately we conversed. From Ethiopia, Sisimayo returned to Sudan after receiving an education through various refu- gee camps that took him in. Help- ing with the medical clinics at the age of 12, Sisimayo had learned how to read and write in English. When the majority of young American boys spend their middle school years playing baseball on a Little League team and mowing smirk, gesturing to his head. "At that point, we consider ourselves Americans." As we talked, I was taken aback by the unshaken tone in his voice. "My hope is to work with the humanitarian agencies," Sisimayo said. "I want to speak on behalf of those who don't have their own voices. I have a lot to do here before I go back. In the past, God came down to help others. These days, God uses people to help people. I believe there are people who need my help" he said. His passion was evident in his solid, glistening brown eyes. "I think it was a really great experi- ence" he proclaimed. I shuffled in my chair as I strug- gled to grasp what he had just said. University of Michigan IT Security Services Presents Location: Michigan Theater Date: Friday, November 5,2004 Admission: Free with U-M ID (Bring a friend!) Time: 8:00 PM. & 11:00 PM. Co-sponsored by Michigan Student Assembly, IT Central Services, MATS, ResComp, Department of Public Safety qWARNER BROS a e. ti' r, ,v a. a,. . a . x :g ,.m... y,. p.. as., 4. , .c ar.-. x u s B 04"