Four years after arriving in the United States as a refugee, James Atem graduated from UMass Boston with a pre-med degree in biology. This fall, James began classes at UMass Medical School in Worcester. FOS board member Marj Ropp spent some time with James recently to ask him a little bit about himself and this truly remarkable achievement.

How did you become interested in studying medicine?
It started when I was in high school in the refugee camp. I saw the need for doctors in the camp. There were not enough doctors. There was only one Sudanese doctor and the rest of the doctors were from outside. I was very good in science in high school. I decided then that I wanted to be a doctor.

Was there anyone in your childhood who was a doctor or a professional healer?
I was only about 10 when I left Sudan, so I don’t have much memory of medical practices. My father was a farmer. I saw mostly traditional medicine: herbs being used by local people. It was just common knowledge that certain herbs were good for certain things. With malaria, for example, they would get the roots from a particular plant, boil them and make a very bitter tea. When you drank the tea you would vomit, but you’d get better. For certain illnesses, some healers would make a cut on your back or your face or some part of the body, maybe sort of like acupuncture. I don’t remember much about this. I was too young.

What was the most difficult thing about coming to the US as a refugee?
I guess it was the strange culture. Everything was so different here. But I’d already lived in two other countries with cultures different from Sudan, so I just took the opportunities that were here and made good use of them.

How were you able to achieve so much? —go to college, graduate and apply to medical school in this strange, new culture?
I was very good in science. I could do all the sciences in high school while I was in the refugee camp. By the time I came to the US, I had finished my high school and Margaret Kerr from Worcester State College helped me apply to college. She said I could take the TOEFL exam. I took it and passed, so I could get into UMass Boston. I knew I wanted to be a doctor so I majored in biology and took pre-med courses.

I worked at Mass General Hospital while I was going to college. I worked as a secretary, doing transcription, answering the phone, directing visitors. I saw what the medical field was like. When I graduated I worked for Boston Scientific and learned about medical devices that patients use.

What is medical school like?
It’s intense and it’s a lot of work, but I knew that before I started. I talked to a lot of people at the hospital where I worked and I came prepared. These first two years are basic sciences. We get to follow a doctor around and observe. We also work with “standardized patients,” people who simulate certain diseases for teaching purposes. This helps us prepare for our clinical years. Do you know yet what kind of medicine do you want specialize in? It’s pretty early yet. I’ve only been in school three weeks. But I know that I want to practice internal medicine rather than surgery.

What are your dreams for Sudan, your country?
There are so many problems now in southern Sudan. So many kids don’t even have schools to go to. They don’t have medical care. I don’t know yet if I can do more to help them by staying here (gathering resources to address their needs) or by going back. I want to help any way I can in the future. When I was young and lived in Sudan, we had no resources, but we had no expectations. People were contented. Now, there is much more awareness of the wider world, a desire for more and a lot of discontentment.

As you look back, how have your experiences— fleeing your country, spending time in refugee camps, coming to the US—influenced you?
I’ve coped with a lot. There is nothing I can’t deal with. I take opportunities as they come and I try to make good use of them. I also work hard. When there are things I want, even if I can't have them right away, I know if I work hard now, maybe I can have those things later.

 

Sunday morning, September 30th could not have been a more beautiful day for the first annual FOS Think Globally/Ride Locally Ride/Walk to benefit the Sudanese! Drawing participants of all ages from many of the surrounding communities, the event took bicyclists and walkers along the lovely Assabet River Rail Trail (ARRT). The newly completed ARRT extends through Hudson and Marlboro along the former rail bed of the Marlborough Branch Railroad, which ran from 1850 until 1980. FOS is grateful to Design/Build Geotechnical, LLC and Ergo Editorial Services, Inc., co-sponsors for the event.

Kuol Acuek was one of the first three Sudanese sponsored by FOS in Lincoln. Having graduated from Lincoln- Sudbury Regional High School in 2005, Kuol is now a junior at Lasell College majoring in Sports Management.

Kuol was born in the small village of Anyidi in Southern Sudan. He was separated from his family when he was seven years old." I was out in the fields with the other boys tending the goats and cows and I saw a thick cloud of black smoke rising and covering the sky. I knew there was something very wrong. I left the cattle in the field and ran back to my house and found the village burning and people running in every direction. Soldiers from the north had attacked and set fire. I ran with others from my tribe into the bush. Most of us were very young and we had no shoes or clothes."

Kuol fled with thousands of other boys first into Ethiopia, then back into Sudan and on to Kenya before finding refuge at the UN-sponsored camp at Kakuma where he spent nine difficult years subsisting on a single bowl of cornmeal a day. Throughout this time, soccer was an important part of Kuol's life. "Many times when I felt that I was starving I would come home and get a soccer ball and play with a friend. This made the time go by. It would help me to forget about how I didn't have anything to eat and what would happen tomorrow if I still didn't have anything to eat. Instead of staying in one place and thinking too much about how there is nothing for tomorrow, I would play soccer and this would help me to feel better."

A former star of the L-S Division II state title-winning soccer team, Kuol has been a starting mid-fielder for the Lasell Lasers varsity soccer team for the past 2 seasons. Last year the Lasers won their NCAA Division III conference title.

"My goal is to finish college and get the training that I will need to get a good job and support myself in the future. When I look back to the beginning and compare it, I think I will feel that I have achieved my goal and I will someday be able to advise people who are in a difficult situation. I will advise them that if you are in difficulties, keep hoping and working hard and then, in the future, you will find success."

 

FOS extends special thanks to AnnMarie Sivret, a Stow volunteer and outstanding graphic artist for her redesign and upgrade of the Friends of Sudanese website. Visit www.friendsofsudanese.org to see our new look.

A special feature is that tax-free donations may now be made by credit card using PayPal.

 

FOS volunteers for donating over 3,750 hours over the past year!

Renee Bombredi, Diana Channell, Laureen Debenedetto, Jim Dolan, Pat Mancini, Peggy Mangin-Cross, Chris Morrison, Jody Newman, Kate & Ed Powers, Paul Ropp, Nancy Shepherd, AnnMarie Sivret, Dorothy Sonnichsen, Eileen Sullivan, Jim Wheeler and Embroidery & More for their time and/or gifts-in-kind.

Tyler Kerr and Sam Tobia for organizing a very successful Battle-of-the-Bands, and special thanks to The Minor Chord in Acton for sponsoring the event.

Thanks also to Clark University, MIT; Cathedral Caltholic High School, Springfield; Millis High School; Athol High School, Westford Academy; Dublin School; St. Anne's Church, Lincoln; St. Anselm's Church, Sudbury; UU Church of Stow and Acton; Park Street Baptist Church, Worcester, and Brookhaven, Lexington for hosting FOS Forums and events.