"A Long Walk to Water": the Theme of Challenges and Leadership

Umpteen times in history, people from many different countries and religions and regions faced difficult situations. During these hardships, sometimes great leaders rose up and led the people out of their difficulties. Likewise, in the book 'A Long Walk to Water' by Linda Sue Park, there were leaders that lead a group of people. In this book, refugees had to travel a long way to the camps, and much of Sudan has water shortages. The long trek was tiring and difficult. Later in the book, Salva, the main character, wants to bring water to his home country of Sudan. During this process, they meet many challenges. One theme of the 'A Long Walk to Water' which is revealed in the essay is difficult times require great and capable leaders, and two characters in the book that showed great leadership are Uncle Jewiir and Salva.

Lines of Difficulties and Leadership in 'A Long Walk to Water'

When Salva and a group of about 30 people were traveling to a refugee camp, Uncle Jewiir showed phenomenal leadership. He led the group for many weeks, across the Nile, through the Akobo Desert, and through Sudan. In the book, it states, “Because of his army experience and because he had a gun, Uncle was seen by the group as a kind of leader”. In addition to hunting and leading his group, Uncle also encouraged Salva to keep on going forward when he stubbed his toe and was in pain. The traveling was very, very difficult, but Uncle Jewiir was very encouraging and showed great leadership by hunting and encouraging the group. When the refugees faced hunger, weariness, and other difficulties, the qualities that Uncle Jewiir possessed led the group safely to the refugee camp.

Later in the book, Salva leads a group of boys to a refugee camp in Kenya. After Salva stayed in the Ethiopia refugee camp for six years, the army drove all the refugees out of the camp. The soldiers forced the refugees across the Gilo River, and after Salva miraculously crossed it without dying, he and a group of boys joined up. Little by little, more boys joined, forming a large group. In the book, it says, “Salva had become the leader of a group of about fifteen hundred boys… He organized the group, giving everyone a job… Salva would talk to them, encourage them, coax and persuade them”. Salva became the leader of 1,500 boys, but he took control of them and cared for them. He organized the group to gather and hunt food, guarding, and many more jobs. When some of the boys didn’t want to work, Salva had patience with them and encouraged them. This shows that Salva had a sense of leadership, and was able to successfully lead a large group. Finally, Salva and the boys safely reached the refugee camp in Kenya. This experience would prove to be useful in the future.

After living in the refugee camp for a while, Salva was given the chance at a new life. He moved in with a family in Rochester, New York. He went to school and was educated. While in the United States, Salva came up with an idea. He was well aware of the shortages of water in Southern Sudan. So he decided to help the Sudanese by drilling wells for them. But this was easier said than done. First, he had to raise money to drill the wells. After that, he had to hire workers to physically do the work. During the work of drilling wells, the workers often ran into problems and became discouraged. But Salva encouraged them. In the book, it says, “[Salva] would encourage the workers and laugh and joke with them. If that didn’t work, he would talk to them and earnestly and try to persuade them”. During the process of well-building, sometimes bags of water would burst, and the working days were long and grueling. But Salva, encouraged his workers, just like when he encouraged the boy when they didn’t want to work. This shows that Salva is persevering and patient. He showed this kind of leadership, both when he was young and when he was older.

Conclusion

In the novel, A Long Walk to Water, the author, Linda Sue Park, shows the theme, “Difficult times require great and capable leaders,” through Uncle Jewiir and Salva. If these two people did not demonstrate their leadership skills, the outcome of Salva would have been completely different. When Salva was young, Uncle Jewiir led him and a few others across the barren, unwelcoming deserts of Sudan and Ethiopia. After being driven out of the refugee camp, Salva bravely led fifteen hundred boys to another refugee camp in Kenya. Many years later, Salva still displayed leadership by encouraging and leading his workers to successfully drill wells for the people of Southern Sudan. This kind of leadership resulted in Salva being able to help thousands of other people by providing water for them. Salva’s persevering, patient, encouraging, hopeful attitude helped him survive and succeed in the most unyielding and problematic of times. Salva Dut truly is one of the most outstanding examples of leadership.