Sudanese ‘Lost Boy’ Remembered As Exceptional Man

GRETCHEN KEISER, Staff Writer

Published: December 23, 2004

ATLANTA—A fund is being established to help the widow and children of Augustino Adowe, a Sudanese refugee whose perilous journeys in this world ended last month tragically when he was killed in a multi-car accident near Newnan.

Mr. Adowe, 30, died Nov. 13 when the van he was driving struck a tow truck on I-85 south at the scene of a two-car accident allegedly caused by a drunk driver. His van was then struck by a truck.

Mr. Adowe was on his way to work at the Excel meat processing plant in Newnan. Two other Sudanese men going to work with him were injured.

The Adowe family was among the refugee families relocated in the Atlanta Archdiocese by Catholic Social Services, and he was one of the young men known as the Lost Boys of Sudan, who crossed African nations on foot and lived in refugee camps after being separated from their parents during Sudan’s civil war.

He and his wife, Asino Jibo, have five children, Bendigo, Mary, Rebecca, Matthew and John, and guardianship of a niece, Awa.

The Adowe family was on the cover of The Georgia Bulletin in October 2001 one year after the archdiocese reorganized its refugee resettlement efforts, which had come under fire. The changes included moving families to better apartments and linking each family with a parish to provide more friendship, mentoring and financial support.

The Adowe family was linked with All Saints Church in Dunwoody, where a number of parishioners have come to know them well, and the family lives in Corpus Christi parish where the funeral Mass was celebrated on Nov. 21 before an overflow crowd of mourners.

Father Greg Kenny, CMF, pastor, read a letter Mr. Adowe had written to his wife telling her of his love for her. Mrs. Adowe sang a song she had sung for him while decorating their Christmas tree together last year.

Many in the Sudanese community live in Clarkston. About a year ago, the parish began celebrating a 2:30 p.m. Sunday Mass at the Clarkston Community Center to better serve those who don’t have transportation or who work various shifts, said Gini Eagen, parish outreach coordinator.

The Clarkston community includes about 35 of the Lost Boys, now men. Reunions are held of Lost Boys who have been resettled in the United States, including a recent reunion in Clarkston, and they have a great concern for how to help those suffering today in Sudan, Eagen said. “They carry a tremendous amount of weight on their shoulders.”

The Lost Boys walked from Sudan into Ethiopia where they stayed in refugee camps for about four years, she said. Then war broke out in Ethiopia, and they had to journey back through Sudan to refugee camps in Kenya.

“They were traveling together as a band of brothers, 30,000 or so,” she said. “Half of their numbers died.”

“It has been a very privileged experience to be working with them,” she said. “It is moving how much goodness emanates from them.”

Parishioners at All Saints and Corpus Christi spoke of their respect and love for Mr. Adowe.

“He was an exceptional man,” said Mary Koponen of Corpus Christi. “Augustino stood out because of the way he was so polite . . . He was a gentleman . . . He was so appreciative of everything I did. Everything he did was so touching. ”

“I am grieving because I lost one of my best friends,” she said.

She met the Adowes in January 2001, after she asked to be paired with a refugee family from Africa, and has been a friend, helping with the overwhelming adjustments to life in the United States refugees face. She has visited them several times a week since they met. “I think it has had a very positive impact (on me),” she said.

Mrs. Adowe has had about two years of schooling, Koponen said, and lost her part-time job following the accident because she was too grief-stricken to work. Her husband had learned to drive and was the primary wage earner.

“She will struggle to get a job and raise these children,” Koponen said. “She is staying with people, some of whom she grew up with. She has these things to help her get through this. She is a woman of faith and so was Augustino.”

The trials faced by refugee families are almost unimaginable, she said. She spoke of practical adjustments she and others have helped the family with, like realizing that Mrs. Adowe was staying home all day, while her husband worked, because they didn’t know they could make a spare key to their apartment.

More profound challenges include that one of the children, who witnessed atrocities, is being treated for post-traumatic stress disorder and that their language skills in English are limited and school is challenging.

“They are good parents. Their children are well-behaved, very sweet, very respectful of adults,” she said.

“How this family has struggled,” she said. “It’s never been easy.”

John Francis of All Saints Church said, “My impression of him as a human being is that he was a very strong, very gentle human being. It was just a joy to work with him and the whole family . . . He was just a prince of a human being.”

“I think of him and his whole family as being plucked out of the 17th century and plunked down here. It was more than his mind could absorb,” Francis said. “Nonetheless he was making progress.”

Francis headed the All Saints team of volunteers who worked with the family over the past few years. One, Dan Wilkins, employed Mr. Adowe for several years until he recently changed jobs.

“Dan has hired dozens, if not hundreds of people,” Francis said. “He said Augustino was far and away the hardest worker and the best worker he had ever had.”

“Asino is just inconsolable. When we told her Augustino was dead . . . she was singing a hymn that I have heard the Sudanese singing. There were alleluias in there,” Francis said.

“Asino knows what obstacles she’s facing to take care of her children with the skills she has.”

At one time about 80 people from All Saints had volunteered to be involved in different ways, many tutoring the children in shifts or baby-sitting so Mrs. Adowe could attend English classes. Francis said he came to realize that the number of people involved was overwhelming and backed off somewhat so the family could have more privacy and volunteers could help as and when the family requested assistance. He also said Koponen’s involvement with the family was the most extensive of any volunteer.

Wilkins said that Mr. Adowe worked for him in his small general contracting business beginning in December 2000 and exhibited great dignity and pride in his work.

“He kept himself very erect. He hated to take a break,” Wilkins said. “His work ethic began in Sudan . . . I would have to make him take a break. Many times we would work 10 to 12 hours.”

Ironically about a year ago Wilkins acquired a house in Clarkston that needed extensive repairs with the idea that it might one day belong to the Adowe family. Although Mr. Adowe decided to move his family elsewhere, as part of his employment he helped Wilkins work on the house, painting shutters and door frames and pouring concrete around the exterior. Wilkins also expanded it to include five bedrooms and three bathrooms and planned to sell it.

This past weekend Mrs. Adowe and the children were moved into the house, along with another Sudanese family who are close friends.

Wilkins sees a providential hand at work. “Now his (Augustino’s) family and another family have moved in.”

“It’s a joy when you can help someone who’s been a contributor to society,” Wilkins said. “He was such a contributor. I can’t bring him back. This is all we can do.”

All Saints took up a special collection for the family when the accident occurred. The parish is in the process of setting up a special fund to provide ongoing help for Mrs. Adowe and their children. For information call (770) 792-3777.