Oral history interview with Peter Magai Bul, 2018 November 26

This oral history interview with Peter Magai Bul was conducted by Nancy E. Dollahite and Sankar Raman on November 26, 2018. The interview was recorded for The Immigrant Story, an organization that documents and archives the stories of immigrants and refugees in the United States. Tim O'Brien was also present.

In this interview, Bul discusses his early life in Sudan as a member of the Dinka tribe. He speaks about tending cattle, about his childhood activities, and about Dinka culture. He talks about the Second Sudanese Civil War and the attack on Wangulei village in 1988. He describes fleeing by foot to Ethiopia; talks about life as one of many displaced children, known as the Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan, in a refugee camp in Dima; and speaks about training as a child soldier. He then describes fleeing to Kenya during the Ethiopian Civil War. He talks about life in the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, including attending school for the first time; discusses the process of earning refugee status to the United States in 2001; and describes his journey to Chicago, Illinois. He talks about adjusting to life in Chicago, about attending Truman College and Northeastern Illinois University, and about helping to build a school in Wangulei. He closes the interview by discussing his plans for the future.