Ayuen Mach Garang
Criminal Justice Program
Class of 2012
Career Goal:
To return to the Sudan and help his country
Criminal Justice Program
Class of 2012
Imagine not knowing how old you are because you were born in a rural village in Sudan without healthcare facilities or formal records. Imagine at a very young age crossing three continents with nothing but the shirt on your back to seek refuge from terrorists, wild animals, famine and disease, not knowing whether the family you left behind was dead or alive. Imagine being transported from the burning heat of a desert continent with no running water to land in Boston, MA in a snowstorm, knowing no English and having no relatives or friends to greet and guide you.
All this and more is true for Ayuen Mach Garang, a Sudanese Lost Boy who is now a criminal justice student at North Shore Community College. The Lost Boys are young war refugees who survived, at great peril and price to themselves, the world's longest running civil war - a 23-year genocide in Southern Sudan which began in the mid-1980s. Despite all he has experienced, endured and overcome, Garang has an infectious spirit, a broad, ready smile and a sparkle in his eyes that all these circumstances have failed to extinguish.
The collective motto of the Lost Boys is "Education is our Mother and our Father." Garang worked in the Job Corps in Maine before moving to Lynn and starting school at NSCC. His goal is to get a law degree and work with a US organization based in Africa where he can see more of his family and help his home country. "I came here wanting to find a better life and I have worked hard to succeed. I eventually want to help build health clinics or primary schools in my country to help those who are still there," he noted. "I love NSCC and am very grateful for all who have helped me here. I have learned what I need to do to achieve my goals."
Garang expects to graduate from NSCC in January 2012 and hopes to continue his education at Salem State University. He is interested in establishing a Sudanese Lost Boys Foundation at NSCC to educate about the life of the Lost Boys and to build good relationships with the students. Further, Ayuen has a dream to forge a reciprocal connection between the colleges he attends and Jonglei State in South Sudan.
North Shore Community College