With RefugePoint’s support, Mangok Bol finally reunited with his niece, Ajoh, and three nephews, Thon, Magot, and Makuei in Boston, MA after a decade of harrowing separation. Mangok has been the children’s guardian since 2014, when their parents were killed in attacks on their village in South Sudan. Their arrival in the U.S. marks the end of a long journey—and the beginning of their new life in America.
Pictured above, left to right, are Ajoh, Makuei, Mangok, Magot, and Thon, upon the family’s reunion in Boston, MA. Photo: Jessica McDaniel.
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The timeline below contains many of the details of the family’s story:
1987
Mangok Bol, age 10, is forced to flee his home in southern Sudan when government-backed militias attacked his village. During flight, Mangok is separated from his parents. On foot, Mangok flees to safety and becomes a member of a group known as “The Lost Boys” of Sudan.
August 1992
Mangok arrives at Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp along with thousands of other children who were separated by their parents.
September 27, 2001
Mangok leaves Kakuma and arrives in the U.S. along with thousands of others who were resettled via the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP), in the largest resettlement of minors in U.S. history.
2002-2013
Upon arrival to the U.S., Mangok begins his studies. He earns a Bachelors degree from the University of New Hampshire, followed by a Masters degree from Brandeis University. He finds a job as an administrator at Brandeis, where he still works today.
2012
Mangok learns through a friend that his mother is alive and living in South Sudan. He has not seen or spoken to her in 25 years. (Pictured: Mangok’s mother (in orange head scarf) and niece Abiei (in white), who was kidnapped in 2014 and is still missing.)
February 2014
Mangok’s brother and sister-in-law are killed in a raid on their village in South Sudan. Four of their seven children, all under 10 years old, are kidnapped. Thrust into the role of father figure of the now orphaned children, Mangok vows to spend his life finding the children and rallies his American friends around him to help.
March 2014
Mangok returns to South Sudan and begins his search for the kidnapped children. On this visit, Mangok also embraces his mother, whom he has not seen since 1987. (Article: Boston Globe)
2015
After months of searching some of South Sudan’s most dangerous places, Mangok miraculously manages to find three of the four kidnapped children. He brings them to safety in neighboring countries, but is not allowed to bring them home to the U.S. with him. He leaves the children in the care of other family members and, while still searching for the fourth kidnapped child, begins arrangements for the children to come to the U.S.
2023
Coordinating with Mangok, RefugePoint is able to submit applications for the resettlement of Mangok’s nieces and nephews to the U.S. In October 2023, four of the children receive life-changing news: they have been approved. (Pictured: Mangok, in his home in Newton, MA, smiling upon learning that his niece and nephews have been approved to come to the U.S.)
September 2024
The children arrived in the U.S. to reunite with Mangok, their uncle and now their father figure. The children enroll in school and start their new lives in the U.S. Mangok will turn his attention back to searching for his final missing niece.
While the arrival of Ajoh, Thon, Magot, and Makuei to Boston marks the end of a long and tenuous journey, there is still more work to be done: another niece of Mangok’s, a girl named Abiei, (who is the twin sister of nephew Magot) was kidnapped in the 2014 attack and remains missing. Mangok is committed to finding Abiei and bringing her to the U.S., along with the children’s other two siblings who currently live in Uganda with an aunt.
Dinka tradition stresses the role of an adult male as leader of the family and mentor to younger members: Mangok is the oldest surviving male in his family. “My nieces and nephews need a male figure in their lives, which is an important part of our African tradition. With them here, I can guide them in everything that they do. The United States is a great country for people like me. I received so much support when I came here as a lost boy of Sudan. Also, American diplomacy, especially the work of [former U.N. Ambassador] Samantha Power when she was the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, helped rescue the children,” Mangok shared.
Press Coverage of Mangok’s Family Reunification Story:
• WBUR: March 10, 2014: “Sudanese “Lost Boy” Returns To Search For Family”
• Boston Globe: March 4, 2019: “A Lost Boy of Sudan keeps looking for his lost niece”
• The Justice: April 16, 2024: “Team Mangok: Mangok Bol and other staff work to resettle Bol’s niece and nephews in the U.S.”
Learn More about the Lost Boys of Sudan by watching this 60 Minutes piece (part 1, part 2) from 2013.
Special thanks to The Good Lie Fund for supporting Mangok’s search for his missing nieces and nephews. The Good Lie Fund is the philanthropic arm of the Warner Brothers film, The Good Lie, starring Reese Witherspoon, the film about the the resettlement of the Sudanese Lost Boys and Girls.