When Isaac Amol was seven years old northern Sudanese gunmen separated him from his family and marched him more than 500 miles on foot. Without food water or shoes Amol dodged bullets lions and crocodiles on a sporadic nine-year journey that dragged him through southern Sudan Ethiopia and Kenya.
After years of suffering Amol arrived at the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. He then resettled into the United States in 1999 as one of the “Lost Boys of Sudan” – southern Sudanese youth who escaped certain death or enslavement in their homeland. Amol attended college and found a home with his new American family.
Six years later Amol returned to southern Sudan for a mission trip and the orphans he met looked too familiar. He saw himself in all of them.
“When people ask what they can do to help the children I say prayer first Amol said. When I was 11 years old traveling through southern Sudan I went without food without water without shoes. I was attacked. But I had a faith in God and someone was praying for me somewhere.”
Amol is scheduled to share his story at the Life Mission Fashion Show and Concert event Sunday Nov. 2 at Alumni Park from 2 to 7 p.m. The International Justice Mission (IJM) Pepperdine community and other local and national organizations designed the event to raise awareness funds and prayer for victims of modern day slavery.
Modern day slavery is the transport sale and bondage of men women and children all across the globe. Some are forced to serve in sex industries or armed forces. IJM is a human rights agency that works on-site in Africa Latin America and South and Southeast Asia to combat modern slavery. According to IJM’s Web site 27 million people are enslaved worldwide.
Along with Amol’s speech Pepperdine students representing 45 student organizations will model fair-trade only clothing. Event organizers will sell commemorative T-shirts and auction catwalk fashions and jewelry crafted by Sudanese and Thai survivors. Recording artist Matt Wertz as well as several student artists will perform for the crowd. Lieutenant Mayor of Malibu Andy Stern is also scheduled to speak at the event.
Proceeds from the event will go to non-profit organizations such as Invisible Children Life Bread Love146 Made by Survivors Night Lights UNICEF and World Vision. These organizations are working to abolish modern day slavery and rehabilitate its victims.
Senior Sara Ward special events chair for IJM’s Seaver College chapter said she and former IJM president Mike Masten planned the fashion show last September. Eventually Masten and Ward integrated the concert element.
“Let’s be honest there are a lot of guys who groan at the thought of sitting through a fashion show said Ward with a laugh. Music tends to be more inclusive.”
Ward said the Inter Club Council provided $4000 and the Student Government Association provided $2500 to fund the event. The university is lending equipment like chairs and canopies to the cause. Churches and families have donated to the cause as well. No other Pepperdine groups have contributed monetarily but some have pledged time Ward added.
For example senior Rachel Gray and sophomore Lindsay Jernigan are serving as co-model managers.
“We are working with the models the clothing team and makeup team backstage to make sure the fashion show goes smoothly Gray wrote in an e-mail.
An Oct. 22 Pepperdine University press release stated that 215 students are involved in the event.
In addition to Pepperdine students and Malibu locals, Ward said USC and UCLA students, celebrities and press are expected to attend the event. Their attendance and event coverage will help extend awareness beyond the Pepperdine community, she added.
Ward also said she hopes the event will educate and translate people’s hearts into actions.”
“I feel like on this campus we already have so many people with such great hearts – who have a general grasp of the issue Ward said. But there’s so much more to learn which is why we’re having the event. We don’t only want to raise funds for the victims but to raise awareness so that students are well informed and then they can be proactive. Who can blame you until you know?” Members of the Seaver College and School of Law IJM chapters partnered to reserve Amol as an event speaker.
Kristin Heinrich an IJM member at Pepperdine School of Law befriended Amol while they were undergraduate students at Point Loma Nazarene University. Heinrich invited him to a Bible study at the law school which Ward also attended. Ward then invited Amol – who splits his time between San Diego and southern Sudan – to attend the Life Mission event. Amol said he jumped at the invitation to share his story and spread awareness about the conflict in Sudan.
“Recently I think more Americans are informed but they don’t have the details Amol said. They do not get accounts from Sudanese people. That is why I am honored to have the opportunity to share my experience.”
Amol said conflicts in Sudan go back well before the widely recognized troubles in Darfur. He explained that conflicts began more than 50 years ago and they continue to resurface. Amol works with Children of Southern Sudan a faith-based non-profit organization that provides safety basic needs education and spiritual training to orphans in the region. The organization’s goal is to prepare the children for self-sufficiency by the age of 18 according to Amol.
“Education is their key to making it on their own he said. In addition to his efforts in Sudan, Amol often speaks at churches and organizes social events for Lost Boys in San Diego.