(For Wednesday 4/6) God Grew Tired of Us - 2006

Never before have I watched a movie and completed a review on the same night. This one must be really special. Yes. Yes it is.

My heart opens so wide when I think of people in need. I ache for their aches, their hurts, their struggles. I cry when they cry. I rejoice when they rejoice. This is who I am and while I sometimes despise the fact that I can't seem to hold my emotions in check, I guess I need to be thankful that I have the ability to empathize so much with my fellow humans. But enough about me.

God Grew Tired of Us is a wonderful documentary about the Lost Boys of the Sudan that were transplanted from the Sudan to the US. Known simply as "The Lost Boys", we watch as they are informed they are leaving Africa for America and standing around in a circle saying goodbye to all they know. They travel on airplanes and see things that we can't even imagine how they see for the first time. What's a light? What's a toilet? What's toilet paper? Does the green dishwashing detergent turn everything green? Such simple questions and so many luxuries we take for granted.

The most impressive thing about this group of Lost Boys is that almost all of them are dedicated to banding together and continuing to support and help their families and friends back in Africa. Many work multiple jobs, still living in what we would consider poverty conditions so that they are able to send money back home. The types of worries we have, say...not enough wine glasses for Friday's big party, are not the worries these individuals have. Instead they worry they will never see anyone they are related to again. They worry that the few people left who know them back home in Africa are now suffering from diseases. They worry that their McDonald's cheeseburger splurge was enough to feed 5 families back home.

Maybe even more impressive is the fact that these Lost Boys were brought to the Land of Opportunity - the USA - and they actually ARE making the most of it. One of them is supporting family, friends and himself while also going to school and getting a degree and creating a non-profit organization to send OTHER Lost Boys through higher education and building a clinic back home in Africa. Yes, really. ONE of these boys. Kinda makes my movie experiment seem pretty lame, huh?

The IMDB Link