Hear Awolich's inspirational story.

An Interview with NRECA’S 2009 International Luncheon Annual Speaker: Former Sudanese Refugee, Abraham Awolich
(International Foundation, October 28, 2009)

One of Sudan's many refugees, Abraham Awolich was separated from his family at age 8 and spent more than a dozen years in East African refugee camps. He arrived in the United States in 2001 at age 21, and has since completed his college degree, pursued graduate studies and is working to bring relief to those in his native land.

"You have two options in a difficult situation," Awolich said. "You can make things better or worse. I chose to make them better."

Awolich's resume is impressive. He finished high school in the refugee camps. Soon after arriving in the United States, he found work as a custodian at the University of Vermont and began building his English and computer skills there. He enrolled full time at the school in 2003, and in 2005, became one of the first Sudanese to graduate from the school.

Awolich knows the importance of having electricity in developing countries-like his native Sudan. "When I go home to the villages, there's no electricity," he said. "People can't work past four or five o'clock, because they can no longer see what they're doing."

"Schoolchildren don't have electricity in their houses," he continued. "They sit in front of the USAID compound at night, because there is enough light to read and finish their homework there," he said, noting that this one of the reasons why NRECA International's work in neighboring Yei is so important.

Electricity is also vital to health and wellness, Awolich notes. Many families do not have refrigerators, making it impossible to keep milk and other food in their homes. In remote areas, people cannot immunize their children because vaccines must be stored in cold temperatures.

Awolich is co-founder of the New Education Initiative in Southern Sudan (NESEI), an organization that has established and opened the first girls' school for higher education. The school is right outside of Yei.

He is currently a McNair Fellow, completing a Master's degree in Public Administration at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in Syracuse University. He graduated in June 2009 and plans to help with the reconstruction efforts in Southern Sudan, which is emerging from decades of civil war.

Hear Awolich's inspirational story.