Profile story
Here's a recent story I enjoyed writing about a Sudanese Lost Boy who lives here.. Very inspiring guy, definitely provides some perspective in life.
Maura J. Halpern
The Arizona Republic
When Philip Panek arrived in Arizona six years ago, he had a change of clothes, bed sheets and a piece of paper confirming his primary school education.
Panek, now 25, is among more than 20,000 "Lost Boys of Sudan" who fled civil war in the 1980s after government troops burned villages and killed civilians.
Panek spent more than a decade bracing for tragedy -- walking more than 1,000 miles across Africa and living in refugee camps with little food.
His new life couldn't differ more.
Earlier this month, Panek graduated from Glendale Community College, a success he never dreamed of as a boy herding cattle in Sudan.
Like most of the Lost Boys, Panek never had a chance at childhood.
In the late 1980s, he fled gunshots and walked with other refugees for three months through the African wilderness to a camp in Ethiopia.
Less than a third of the children lived through the journey.
At times, an eight-year-old Panek relied on swamp water and leaves to survive.
"Some people just sat down and gave up, they couldn't go on," he said. "I really don't know how I made it."
In 1992, the children were forced by gunpoint to leave the Ethiopian camp.
Soldiers chased them to the River Gilo, which borders Sudan.
To escape gunfire, the refugees had to swim across, but many drowned in the alligator-infested river.
"Many of the kids had nightmares about that terror," he said. "There were a lot of bodies floating in the river."
After walking for two months, Panek arrived at a United Nations refugee camp in Kenya, where he stayed for nine years.
Food was scarce and medical care non existent, so the U.N. and International Rescue Committee resettled 3,800 Lost Boys to the United States in 2001.
An estimated 500 live in the Valley.
While Panek had hope for a better life here, his adjustment to the U.S. wasn't easy.
He had never driven a car, shopped at a grocery store or been to a movie theater.
"I remember being afraid when I went to the cinema here, it was so loud," Panek recalls. "And I didn't know the names of foods here."
He could speak English, but bus schedules and city maps were an impossible puzzle.
"I could read the street names, but I didn't know where they went," he said.
In 2003, the AZ Lost Boys Center opened in Phoenix as a lifeline to the Lost Boys.
The center provides job assistance, counseling, programs and a place to socialize.
"When you understand what they've been through and what they're trying to accomplish, its so compelling and you want to give them the resources to become successful," said Ralph Serpico, the center's executive director. "They are able to take the devastation in their lives and turn it into something positive."
Panek coordinates the center's Cow Project. The Lost Boys craft clay cows to symbolize an integral part of Sudanese society.
All proceeds from the sculptures help finance scholarships for the young men.
Panek lives with two roommates - also Lost Boys - in a Phoenix apartment.
He works as a new employee trainer at the PetSmart distribution center.
In the fall, Panek will attend ASU-West to complement his Glendale Community College degree in global business with a bachelor's in finance and management.
One day, he hopes to work for a non-profit or government organization and eventually own a business.
Panek's mother died when he was young, but his father and siblings are still alive in Sudan.
When he makes enough money, Panek plans to send some back to his family.
"I feel like this is home now," he said. "My experiences have shown me you never know what the next day brings, so you focus on one day at a time."
- Reach the reporter at (602) 444-6916 or maura.halpern@arizonarepublic.com.
Maura J. Halpern
The Arizona Republic
When Philip Panek arrived in Arizona six years ago, he had a change of clothes, bed sheets and a piece of paper confirming his primary school education.
Panek, now 25, is among more than 20,000 "Lost Boys of Sudan" who fled civil war in the 1980s after government troops burned villages and killed civilians.
Panek spent more than a decade bracing for tragedy -- walking more than 1,000 miles across Africa and living in refugee camps with little food.
His new life couldn't differ more.
Earlier this month, Panek graduated from Glendale Community College, a success he never dreamed of as a boy herding cattle in Sudan.
Like most of the Lost Boys, Panek never had a chance at childhood.
In the late 1980s, he fled gunshots and walked with other refugees for three months through the African wilderness to a camp in Ethiopia.
Less than a third of the children lived through the journey.
At times, an eight-year-old Panek relied on swamp water and leaves to survive.
"Some people just sat down and gave up, they couldn't go on," he said. "I really don't know how I made it."
In 1992, the children were forced by gunpoint to leave the Ethiopian camp.
Soldiers chased them to the River Gilo, which borders Sudan.
To escape gunfire, the refugees had to swim across, but many drowned in the alligator-infested river.
"Many of the kids had nightmares about that terror," he said. "There were a lot of bodies floating in the river."
After walking for two months, Panek arrived at a United Nations refugee camp in Kenya, where he stayed for nine years.
Food was scarce and medical care non existent, so the U.N. and International Rescue Committee resettled 3,800 Lost Boys to the United States in 2001.
An estimated 500 live in the Valley.
While Panek had hope for a better life here, his adjustment to the U.S. wasn't easy.
He had never driven a car, shopped at a grocery store or been to a movie theater.
"I remember being afraid when I went to the cinema here, it was so loud," Panek recalls. "And I didn't know the names of foods here."
He could speak English, but bus schedules and city maps were an impossible puzzle.
"I could read the street names, but I didn't know where they went," he said.
In 2003, the AZ Lost Boys Center opened in Phoenix as a lifeline to the Lost Boys.
The center provides job assistance, counseling, programs and a place to socialize.
"When you understand what they've been through and what they're trying to accomplish, its so compelling and you want to give them the resources to become successful," said Ralph Serpico, the center's executive director. "They are able to take the devastation in their lives and turn it into something positive."
Panek coordinates the center's Cow Project. The Lost Boys craft clay cows to symbolize an integral part of Sudanese society.
All proceeds from the sculptures help finance scholarships for the young men.
Panek lives with two roommates - also Lost Boys - in a Phoenix apartment.
He works as a new employee trainer at the PetSmart distribution center.
In the fall, Panek will attend ASU-West to complement his Glendale Community College degree in global business with a bachelor's in finance and management.
One day, he hopes to work for a non-profit or government organization and eventually own a business.
Panek's mother died when he was young, but his father and siblings are still alive in Sudan.
When he makes enough money, Panek plans to send some back to his family.
"I feel like this is home now," he said. "My experiences have shown me you never know what the next day brings, so you focus on one day at a time."
- Reach the reporter at (602) 444-6916 or maura.halpern@arizonarepublic.com.