Wings of Hope — for all of us

Wings of Hope — for all of us

Wadeng! This means to strive toward a brighter future, and it became the motto of the young Sudanese man Jacob Deng. He learned early in his life that hope for a better future can be the key to survival when he had to flee his village during an attack which killed every member of his family except one nephew.

One of the “Lost Boys of Sudan”, he fled first to Ethiopia and then to Kenya, where after a long period in a refugee camp he got the chance to come to Canada. Here, he could escape the suffering and the hard life and welcome a new life, which he described as “a dream which became true”.

 Despite this new life and all of its  possibilities, he has never forgotten the people in his village who are still suffering. To help, he founded Wadeng Wings of Hope. This foundation is raising money for the people in South Sudan and Jacob has traveled there to help direct the building of a vocational school, the drilling of a well, and other projects.

Rockway had the privilege to welcome Jacob to speak in chapel on September 12th and with a number of classes on November 6th. He spoke about his work to help people in South Sudan. He said that he has just a small NGO but the difference from the big ones is that Wadeng works among the people in the rural areas, and is committed to staying for the long term.

For me personally, it is just incredible how this man never forgets the people in South Sudan, which means he has to deal with his painful past every day. I am not the only person impressed by him and the evidence is visible at school already, through different fundraising events. We all learned from Jacob how you can be optimistic in life, even in bad situations, and that we should never forget people who don’t have it as easy as we do. Being compassionate and responsible are two of the main “pillars” of our learning and acting at Rockway, and Jacob shows both of those characteristics.

Finn Klebe, Grade 11 International Student from Germany