Local author shares refugee experience with students

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) - An author who came to America as a refugee when she was 16 shared her book and journey with students at Harrisburg High School on Monday.

“After a deadly attack in South Sudan left six-year-old Achut Deng without a family, she lived in refugee camps for ten years, until a refugee relocation program gave her the opportunity to move to the United States.”

She now lives in Sioux Falls as an American citizen working in human resources at Smithfield and has three kids.

She wrote “Don’t Look Back,” a memoir about personal perseverance and the resilience of the human spirit.

“I was absolutely thrilled to meet her. This book just made me see so many different perspectives I never considered. It made me so much more grateful for everything I have. It was amazing to listen to her tell her story and the strength behind it,” said junior Katelynn Christopherson.

You can get Deng’s book “Don’t Look Back” on Amazon.

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