Robby Klein
Hailing from South Sudan in Africa, James Kuol Makuac is part of a large group of young men called The Lost Boys of Sudan who came to the U.S. as refugees of war. Named the Lost Boys because, they eventually ended up in a refugee camp with thousands of others.
“We were a community of heroic children helping each other survive,” he says of the group who were forced as children to flee their villages and leave their families while trying to escape civil war. “There was not one person that was braver than another. We all were scared, missing our mothers, and we took care of each other.”
Robby Klein
The trials Makuac experienced in his life inspired him to become an artist, and the paintings he creates tell the history of those who suffered in Sudan.
“I am thankful that I survived my life circumstances and that I am alive. Because of this I have tried to accomplish goals that make me a better person,” he says. “I acquired many skills and interests before my arrival in the United States. I learned to speak English in the camp. My village language is Dinka, but I taught myself to speak Arabic, Swahili, and Spanish. I have also been trying to learn Vietnamese. I started out cleaning machines at Tyson Foods and assembling boxes, but because I taught myself to speak different languages, I was promoted to interpreter for my fellow employees.”
He’s also proud of his artistic achievements.
“I have a painting in the collection of The Tennessee State Museum and recently Tyson Foods commissioned a large painting and asked me to depict the diversity within the workplace.