A Long Walk To Water Book Report

A Life-Changing War

Civil war is consistently raging on throughout South Africa and Sudan, for the past twenty-two years, thousands are trying to escape and find safety. Little resources remain in the wild for most to survive on, some even starve from hunger or die from dehydration. But let me tell you about a young man who survived the harsh and deadly war. A Long Walk to Water is written by Linda Sue Park. Linda Sue Park is an American author who wrote this book after learning the true story of Slava Arrik. A Long Walk to Water is written based on the lives of both Salva and a young girl named Nya. Linda explains in detail about both of their troubles the war is giving them and their family and the struggle within the nature and environment

surrounding them. She also explains most of the rivalry between the Dinka and Nuer tribes within the war.
Salva is a true survivor because not only did he survive the harsh environment like the heat and animals, but also the loss of many loved ones he held dearly. Also, he had to adapt to new situations like the refugee camps, the United States when he was sent there to live with an American family, and to the walking he had to endure to get to the camps.
Most of the area’s and different places Salva and the rest of his group walked through were severely dangerous and harmful, killing a few in the group.

One example could be the bees they encountered. As they found a large beehive to feast on, they decided a way to get it down and out of the tree carefully without waking or disturbing the bees. A fire was sparked underneath the tree to make the honey bees exhausted. When a Jur-chol and Busha men tried to remove the hive, the honey bees awoke and began to buzz around the group, stinging everyone in their sight. Stings covered most of everyone’s bodies, and Salva’s eye was swollen shut from being stung. Though in pain, a feast came of the hive, filling up their stomachs. As Salva explained it, “His belly was a rounded lump stuffed full of honey and beeswax” (28). Mosquitoes also attacked the group as they tried to rest on an island they reached as they crossed the Nile. As the night approached and they tried to rest on the island, the mosquitoes rose from the water and swarmed they quickly, biting their skin and sucking on their blood. It was a restless night for everyone. “No one in the group got any sleep. The mosquitoes made sure of that” Salva explained it in a gingerly manner (50). No matter how many were swatted and killed, hundreds more took their place quickly. Though the fisherman were kind earlier in the day, Salva’s group suffered from the bites while the fisherman slept in tents. Though they tried to finish their

journey quickly, they also had to cross the Akobo desert. It was a long three day journey suffering the blistering and dehydrating heat. The scorching heat tore apart the shoes anyone had on, forcing them to walk barefoot and harming their feet. As it was explained, “Salva’s shoes stood no chance against the hot stony desert ground” (52). With very little water resources, it was hard for the group to continue walking those three days, especially when some of the women gave water to collapse men that were in the sand. Danger constantly surrounding the group into hard situations, yet them and Salva managed to survive it with their force of will.
Along this journey, Salva was forced to flee his village of Loun-Ariik, losing his family, but also losing loved ones along the long walk to the refugee camp of Itang, leaving him almost completely on his own. Salva’s village was ransacked by the rebels of the war, the Nuer, causing immediate panic while he was in school. Wild gunshots cut the silence in the lecture from Salva’s instructor, forcing everyone into a dead sprint for safety. Salva was instructed by his teacher to hide in the bush with the rest of the kids as quickly as possible. As he did what he was told, he realized something as he ran into the bush, that he was running far from home. “As they walked, the same thoughts kept running through his head in rhythm with his steps. Where are we going? Where is my family?When will I see them again?” Salva worried to himself after quickly realizing he was far from home (9). When Salva thought there was no hope in finding any of his family along the journey, his uncle found him and graciously lead the group from his village. But as they crossed into the Akobo desert, a group of the rebel Nuer tribe ambushed them with no hesitation. Forcing everyone to their hands and knees, they looted their bags of any items, and took some of the clothes of those in the group. “Then the men moved among the group. If anyone was carrying a bag, the men opened it and took whatever was inside. They ordered some people to remove their clothing and took that as well” Salva stated (62-63). As they seen his uncle had a gun, they tied him up to a tree after he laid his firearm down. The Nuer group had different firearms and machetes to threaten those in the group. After they took everything they possibly could from everyone, they grabbed his uncle’s firearm and walked over to him. Laughs erupted from the men, and the gun fired off three times towards his uncle, killing him viciously before they ran away with the valuables back the same way they came from. They took Salva’s only family that he had, making him feel alone and empty. Marial was also taken from him. Marial was a young boy the same age as Salva that was walking with them. Salva’s uncle alerted the group that they had entered lion country. After they stopped to rest for the night, Salva fell asleep quickly. As Salva slept, his Uncle shook his shoulder to wake him, and being unaware of the situation, Salva questioned himself where Marial was. As his eyes met his Uncle’s, he realized his face was solemn. Soft crying could be heard from behind his uncle as he apologized to Salva. A hungry lion took Marial as he slept, because he was a small and motionless sleeping form. Nobody had noticed until the soft cries of Marial awoke them. Even though Marial wasn’t a loved one, he still meant dear to Salva, just like his uncle and family.
Salva had to adapt to new customs and environments both in Sudan, the refugee camps he arrived at, and in the United States when he moved there to his new family such as clothes, food, religion, etc. When Salva arrived at the camp in Itang, thousands of people crowded the camp.”People in lines and masses and clumps” Salva explained the camp in Itang (66). Even though it was overcrowded with people, the people running the camp still managed to have enough food to pass around to everyone everyday. The camp was so full that people who were sitting down barely had enough room to spread their legs out completely. Though the camp seemed too full to Salva, more and more people flooded in everyday. Salva was so accustomed to walking everyday that it was hard staying put at the camp. Not only did he become accustomed to the walking, but also to the heat he was walking in and much more. He forced himself to walk across the Akobo desert, through lion country, withstanding bee stings and mosquito bites, Salva struggled through it all. They were running low one food and water, but Salva got used to hardly eating or drinking anything quickly, showing his strength and ability to grow into customs he has never done before. Just like being picked and going to the United States. After staying at the camps and reading the papers with names for kids going to the United States with anticipation, Salva was finally picked to go to America in Rochester, New York with a new family that would take care of him. Before and once Salva arrived to the United States, he was given lots of clothes to deal with the harsh winters, along with different foods and drinks while enduring his first long flights. “Salva’s arms were piled high with new clothes. Underwear, socks, sneakers. A pair of long pants. A T-Shirt to wear on top of it. And he was to wear all these clothes at the same time!” Salva exclaimed in his mind (92). He had to get used to being in the cold and the different weather in America, plus having to learn a whole different language, and getting used to the way people were different in America compared to back home in Sudan. One law that amazed him the most was the fact that in America you could only have or marry one wife!
Being a survivor means that you have to be able to make it through something rough or something hard or something that may easily bring death.

Salva endured most of the worst situations, but yet he pushed himself through it all to be able to survive and make it onward with his life. Though Salva lost those close to him such as his uncle or Marial, he moved forward, knowing that they believed that was best for him as well. Now, called a Lost Boy from moving here from Sudan, he can explain the harsh environments, like the heat and camps, that he had to live through and also the new lifestyle he had to become used to. Sometimes the survivor can tell his story better than most others can lay it out to be, because they can explain it in more vivid and colorful detail. Thought forced from their home in such violent manners, Lost Boy’s from the Civil War still survive, and more than 4,000 of them are resettled in America today. Not only can we provide them food and warmth, but a home far away from the danger of their lives being put at a

risk.