Utz worked with Mayai as a mentor, helping him through a string of ambitious projects and a culminating thesis on the psychological and health troubles of the lost boys.

But Mayai doesn't want his research to end with his diploma on Friday. Instead, he will travel back to Sudan this summer on a research mission to learn how to bring peace and productivity to his African home.

Awan plans a trip to Sudan this year, hoping to use his psychology skills to counsel people who lived through the country's prolonged civil wars.

"I really want to help the people back there. That's one of my dreams — to go home and make change," Awan said.

The trip, however, means returning to a home that exists only in hazy memories for the three lost boys. Awan's mother and father both died after he left the village, and Mayai does not know what became of his family. A broken phone call last month with a brother in Sudan is the only contact he has had with his family for almost 20 years.

"It's different there," he said. "I don't think I'll remember it."

---

E-mail: estewart@desnews.com