One of the first lessons Panther Kuol learned while growing up in Sudan was the value of planning carefully for the future.
“As a young child, I watched each year as my parents put away a few precious seeds from the little harvest they made. They would plant those in the next rainy season, and this was the only cycle through which our livelihood was sustained.”
Kuol says most of his other early memories are of strife and suffering. Born in southern Sudan during the Second Sudanese Civil War—which took the lives of approximately two million people and displaced another four million between 1983 and 2005—his main concern during those years was survival.
It was only after he fled the country at age 10—becoming one of thousands of Lost Boys of Sudan who left to avoid the government-led troops killing young southern Sudanese males who might one day join the fight for independence—that Kuol began to find peace and opportunity. Over the next 13 years, he lived in the United Nations-run Kakuma refugee camp. While the physical conditions at the crowded camp in the Kenyan desert weren’t ideal, Kuol knew the opportunity for education it provided him would help change his life.
“Both my parents are illiterate. I was always trying to do what they didn’t achieve because of the circumstances.”
“Both my parents are illiterate,” says Kuol, whose father dropped out of school due to the war and mother never attended school. “I was always trying to do what they didn’t achieve because of the circumstances. I knew that education would not only benefit me but also benefit my family and my country.”
In 2005, World University Services Canada, a student-led international development group, sponsored Kuol to come to Canada and attend Simon Fraser University in B.C. There he studied business administration, got involved in student politics and developed a strong fondness for his new country.
In 2011, further opportunity presented itself to Kuol when he was offered a position as a pension analyst at Morneau Shepell in Toronto. He jumped at the chance because it was a stepping stone toward his goal of eventually becoming an actuary.
Kuol says he loves the fact that working in the pension sector allows him to help those who, like his parents in Sudan, are trying to build a secure financial future for themselves and their families.
“Canadians struggle to pay their monthly bills while, at the same time, obligating themselves to save some money for their future survival,” observes Kuol. “I came to Canada with nothing, and I can attest to the fact that living on a fixed income is not easy. I understand that
Canadians strive to maintain decent lifestyles in retirement.”
Morneau Shepell has also offered Kuol, now a Canadian citizen, an opportunity to give back to the country he left behind. Even before Kuol started at the company, its employees were fundraising to build a school at Kakuma. By the end of 2011, employees had raised $325,000 through individual donations and various events.
Kuol says he’s been humbled and inspired by the efforts his co-workers have made to support the camp that offered him so much hope, and which is still home to approximately 80,000 refugees. “The generosity of other people is quite overwhelming.”
Just as South Sudan—which became an independent nation in July 2011—has begun working toward a better future for its people, Kuol says his own journey is only starting.
“The work that I’ve set out to do is not done. I’ve learned that I may not have achieved much at this point, but I feel that I am on the right path.”
Neil Faba is associate editor of Benefits Canada. neil.faba@rci.rogers.com
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