Ithaca College

David Turkon of the anthropology department presented a paper on his work among Sudanese "Lost Boys" refugees in Syracuse at the annual meetings of the Society for Applied Anthropology in Memphis, Tennessee, on March 26.

David's paper examined how different ethnic and regional factions within the population of Sudanese "Lost Boys" refugees in Syracuse poses challenges to their functioning as a community, and hinders management of the Central New York Lost Boys Foundation.

Turkon argued that we need to discuss categories concerning the idea of community and not assume that all individuals that share a common experience of spatial origin are alike. He went on to describe efforts that he and other volunteers are applying to build social and economic capacity among Lost Boys in Syracuse.

The first step was to identify a faction willing to cooperate and then to initiate a fund-raising and outreach project. The first effort is underway and focuses on a folk arts project in which these young men make clay cows for sale at craft fairs and arts studios. Proceeds will be targeted for scholarships.

The ultimate goal is to attract broader participation and cooperation among the broader Sudanese refugee population by building from the ground up, rather than assuming a cohesive group, which represents the more traditional, top-down approach to community capacity building.