Known as the Lost Boys of Sudan, there were thousands of them who fled genocide in the 1980s.
Among them was Nicodemus Lim.
He was born and raised in a small village in the African nation of Sudan. The village had no modern conveniences or electronics, schools, hospitals or even running water. Drinking water came from nearby streams.
He had 23 siblings owing to his father’s six wives. The family lived in mud and grass huts.
From an early age, Lim enjoyed hunting with his father, using dogs and spears, and fishing.
“Villagers were farmers,” Lim said. “They kept cattle and other livestock and raised grain.”
Since there were no schools, children’s days were full of chores. Boys tended the cattle outside the village, and girls worked at home in the village.
Everything changed in December,1987, when the Sudan government sent soldiers to raid primarily Christian villages in southern Sudan resulting in mass killing.
“I was tending cattle when I heard gunshots in the village,” said Lim, who was 9. “I didn’t know what was happening, but I saw people running, screaming and crying.