The largest country in Africa, one that is a quarter the size of the United States, is immersed in turmoil and civil war. Since its independence from Egypt and Britain in 1956, Sudan has been marked by war for all but one decade beginning in 1972. Caught in the middle of a brutal conflict between North and South Sudan are millions of Sudanese people searching for a way to continue living without being plagued by fear and death everywhere. The war has claimed over two million lives. Until recently, the war has been fought almost entirely in southern Sudan between the largely black, Christian and animistic people of that region and the ruling Arab and Muslim north. Now war has spread to the Darfur region in the West.

Since 1983, over four million refugees have flooded into neighboring Kenya, Ethiopia, and Egypt. Others are fleeing the war in the West by going to Chad. There are few aid organizations allowed in Sudan, and little outside aid can get in. Many relief workers themselves have been forced to flee the country for their own safety. The people who make the trek toward a better life often do it without a means of transportation and are often forced to walk over hundreds of miles of rugged and dangerous African terrain. Many succumb to dehydration and fatigue, or are gunned down by government forces. Once they reach their destination, life is little better there; the refugee camps are incredibly overcrowded and have very few facilities for such large groups.

Since 1994 refugees from Sudan have been coming to America through various organizations. Once they arrive, those under the age of eighteen go into foster care through private agencies. If they are over eighteen, they receive food stamps, medical coupons and aid from public assistance for eight months.