Salva Mawin Dut Ariik: A Long Walk To Water

Have you ever been in a severe situation? An eleven-year-old boy named Salva Mawin Dut Ariik has. Many people, including Salva, are endangered because of a War in Sudan. Their goal is to reach the refugee camp in Ethiopia. In the book, A Long Walk To Water, by Linda Sue Park. The Dinka women gave him the basic necessities to keep his journey to the camp going. Uncle provided Salva food which gave him the power to continue. Salva a determined person persevere despite the group members’ thoughts and the way they treated him. Salva survives these obstacles with the help from the Dinka woman, Uncle Jewiir, and determination. Obstacles include not having enough food and needing a place to stay and someone to care for you. Without the help from the people, Salva wouldn’t have made it past the bumps throughout the road.

One element that helped Salva survive his long journey is when the Dinka woman helped him out. When the group left Salva alone by himself, the Dinka woman decided to let him stay in the barn. Also, the group thought that Salva was not worthy of staying with, so they abandoned him. Since they left him behind, as a result the elderly woman decided to let Salva settle down in her barn. Salva brought wood and water for the Dinka woman. He helped

Now that Uncle is gone, the group didn’t want to share food with Salva. He had to plead for the small bits of food given to him. Salva felt as if he disappeared as if no one cared for him like Uncle had. Also, this emotionally made Salva feel alone and helpless but Salva perseveres through this. Park’s writes,’’The way they were treating him made Salva feel stronger.” Salva thought to himself,”They think I am weak and useless, they are wrong, and I will prove it.”(66) Primarily, this empowers him to change the way they think of him, this also made him tough. Best of all, it influenced Salva, to make an effort to push harder and keep