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I learned that part of the invisibility of the displaced girls of Sudan is due to cultural heritage. People in charge of refugee camps tended to attach unaccompanied girls to whatever foster families they could find. Boys were generally left in group settings. The girls then assumed traditional female roles with their foster families, doing chores and housework. They often were unable to attend the camp schools or youth activities as a result.
In addition, when the United States and other countries offered to resettle thousands of Sudanese orphans, they mostly considered boys. The girls, afterall, were attached to foster families and not orphaned. (Although the book makes clear that many of the young men who came over also had families in Sudan, and understandably lied about their family status to get out of the stifling refugee camps.) So once again, the girls were lost.
Sudanese Refugees Live In Goz Amer Refugee camp After Fleeing The War In Darfur
The Lost Girls of Sudan are so lost, in fact, that it is hard to find people who blog about them. In 2007, Lisala Perry wrote:
While the "Lost Boys" of Sudan have garnered attention through writing their own books, magazine articles, and being featured in documentaries and on Aaron Spelling's popular show "7th Heaven," the smaller group of "Lost Girls" of Sudan are hardly mentioned. As matter of fact, I can't find any articles about the girls written after 2005. It could be because of their numbers; the group of boys forced to become refugees is believed to be a little more than 26,500, while the girls number just above 13,000. This puts fewer women in each country to band together, and gives them a smaller voice.
It doesn't help that they don't necessarily have a big public voice even when they are gathered in larger numbers….
excerpted via The Lost Girls of Sudan | BlogHer.
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