Refugee finds new life in Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE - A little boy named David Bol walked on bare feet from Sudan to Ethiopia.

He was nine years old, and he was running from a civil war.

Now 28 years old, Bol is doing a different kind of running, racing to finish school while earning money for family back home.

Bol became a U.S. citizen Sept. 7, six years after arriving in the country. In addition to starting classes Monday at Big Bend Community College to earn his transfer degree, Bol is an assistant instructor at Columbia Basin Job Corps and a Rite Aid pharmacy technician.

When he arrived in the United States in 2001, his mother, a brother and three sisters remained in Africa.

"I haven't seen them for a long, long time," Bol said.

His father died in the civil war.

Bol walked from Sudan to a refugee camp in Ethiopia, during which he saw people drop dead on the side of the road from starvation. The year was 1987, and he had been separated from his family. He walked from town to town, traveling only at night because of the heat. During the day, he was too hungry to sleep.

"As we were walking, people just died on the road because there's no food," he said.

If someone stopped walking and said they were too tired to go on, Bol never saw them again. Out of hunger, people started eating grass on the road. Some boiled the grass, which meant they got no nutrients from it.

"The worst thing is that you don't even know where you're going," he said.

The government would light towns on fire. Soldiers killed any boys they saw. The soldiers knew if anyone ran from a town, they would hide in the forest. So they waited in the towns or next to the river, where people would go for water. Seeing fire from a town miles away helped keep the group alive because they would know to avoid the area.

"If you're lucky to see it, then that's good because that will tip you off," Bol said.

After Bol arrived in Ethiopia, he joined a refugee camp. He spent four years there. In the refugee camps, desperation was everywhere, he said.

"You just live day-by-day, hour-by-hour, hoping for things to be different," Bol said.

He left the camp for the Sudan-Ethiopia border in 1992 at 13 years old, when it was no longer safe to stay there. Planes began dropping bombs on people at his next refugee camp, so he was transported to Kenya.

On the way to Kenya, he was shot in the back. He sustained injuries that continue to impact his life today. They prevent him from participating in sports, running for long periods of time and lifting heavy items.

Bol spent six months in a hospital, and then he spent time in a refugee camp in Kenya. At the camp, Bol was given the opportunity to apply for admission to the United States.

The process took about four years. In that time, he filled out an application, went through interviews and received a medical checkup. He said he dreamed about coming to the United States.

"It's a great excitement," he said. "It's something that, you wish that you get there."

When Bol arrived in the United States, he lacked work experience and an education. He hadn't earned his high school diploma or GED.

"It's very difficult," he said. "You don't have any references. You don't have any work experience."

Bol studied for his GED at Seattle Central Community College while working nights as an airport security guard. He worked 12-hour shifts, from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. During his breaks he studied. After work, he returned home and ate breakfast, then headed to college to take tests. The next night, he would read a new book on a different subject so he could take another test.

After earning his GED, Bol joined the Columbia Basin Job Corps. He wanted to gain the skills needed to work, so he could support his family. He graduated from the job corps pharmacy technician program and moved back to Seattle.

He couldn't find work in Seattle, but Moses Lake Professional Pharmacy co-Owner Shawn Needham offered Bol a job. He brought him back to Moses Lake to start the new job.

"He showed up for work, and he was early, and he didn't have a car," Needham recalled. "I asked him how he got to work, and he walked."

Needham said Bol has excellent work ethic and never complained about working.

Bol said he feels grateful to the Needham family.

Six years after arriving in the United States, Bol has his citizenship. On Sept. 7, he participated in a swearing-in ceremony in Spokane.

"When you come to that point, you don't want to give it up at all, you want to enjoy it," he said.

Before the ceremony, the Columbia Basin Job Corps Pharmacy Instructor surprised Bol with a cake recognizing his accomplishment.

"I almost cried," Bol said. "It was an emotional thing."

He said he wanted to thank the pharmacy instructor, staff, students and Rite-Aid employees for the support they gave him. He said most of his co-workers attended the ceremony.

Bol is working full time now while he attends school part time. He anticipates being away from home from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. when school starts on Monday.

"I don't mind that," he said. "I'm hard-working. I don't mind working at all."

Some of the money Bol earns, he sends to his family so they can pay rent, buy food, get medical attention and go to school. It is important to him his younger brother and sister be able to attend school.

Because Bol could not risk being trapped overseas during a visit to his family, he hasn't been to Africa in years. Now that he has his citizenship, he hopes to go back and see them.

Bol plans to transfer to Washington State University to continue his education, with the plan of returning to Africa to build a clinic or hospital.

"They need all the help that they can get," he said.

He hopes friends can come with him to Africa to help in his endeavors.

Bol said he tells the students at Columbia Basin Job Corps about his life, and he tells them they should be happy.

"I talk to them all the time, 'You should be appreciative of all that you have here,'" he said.