Their hope is to one day return to Sudan and rebuild the homes that war stole from them.

Today, many of the Lost Boys have mentors—volunteers who support them and help them receive an education in the U.S. Joseph Taban Rufino is a Lost Boy who is going to medical school with the help of Joey McLiney of Kansas City. McLiney helps Rufino with his adjustment to Western life. But according to McLiney, Rufino is the one helping McLiney and his family understand a world outside of their own, a world they will never know first-hand.

Rufino works at two jobs to pay bills. He studies for medical school at night. He feels that as long as he can receive an education in the U.S., he can be a doctor. He is determined to succeed. Rufino’s story is so inspirational that he and McLiney appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show to tell the story of the Lost Boys.

Even though civil war continues in many countries in Africa, the Lost Boys of Sudan remind people that once lost, these boys continue to find their way.