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When his story begins in 1985, Salva Mawien Dut Ariik is an eleven-year-old Dinka boy. His life seems like that of a typical boy living a rural, semi-nomadic life in Southern Sudan. He is grateful for the opportunity to go to school, but he relishes the time he spends with his brothers and friends herding his father’s cattle, and the warmth and love he experiences from his mother at home. He is deeply connected to his family. However, the carefree, innocent childhood Salva has experienced to this point is shattered when the Civil War that has been raging in Sudan reaches his village. Terror and fear will be Salva’s constant companions as he is forced to run away from family and the life he has known.

The many years of hardship and suffering that Salva endures as he escapes Sudan are marked by his bravery, courage, and perseverance. Determined to prove his worth and carry his own weight, he fetches water for the old woman, “Auntie,” who temporarily takes him in. Abandoned time and again by adults who put their own survival ahead of his, Salva pushes forward, driven by his love for family and the hope that he will see them again.
 
Salva experiences the power of tribal identity as he flees to safety when a group of Dinka refugees allow him to travel with them even though he is a child and might slow them down. He befriends several Dinka boys along the way, and shares both the burden of suffering and simple, childlike moments. When one of the boys is killed, Salva’s grief is palpable. When Salva’s uncle joins the group, Salva feels safe and protected, and learns much from watching Uncle’s leadership. It is Uncle who pulls Salva from the brink of despair and encourages him to take one step at a time. When men from the Nuer tribe brutally kill Uncle, Salva manages to pull himself back from the brink and summons the courage to keep walking, to survive. It is evident that Salva has reconciled whatever anger and resentment he might hold toward the Nuer for killing his uncle when his non-profit group brings water to Nya’s village, a Nuer village.

As the story progresses, Salva grows into a leader. He has lived through experiences that terrified him and taken unimaginable risks in order to survive. He has witnessed life-crushing suffering and borne unbearable physical and emotional pain. But he has also witnessed amazing acts of selflessness, bravery, and perseverance. Percolating just beneath the surface is a desire growing in Salva to help others, not just himself. He emerges confident and competent.

When Salva is adopted by a family in the United States, he faces the challenge of entering a new world with the same qualities he honed on his journey from his village to the refugee camps: resourcefulness and courage, gratitude and perseverance, hopefulness and a resolve to make a difference. A joyful reunion with his father inspires Salva to bring hope and harmony to the people of Sudan in the form of water. Salva recognizes what a project of this magnitude will take: moving forward one step at a time.

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