Status Updates From They Poured Fire on Us from...

Your Worst Enemy, essentially Benson's version of the Escape Palataka chapter, was such an intense read. This autobiography showcasing the extent of how the human spirit can supersede what should be physically impossible for these boys is something that I cannot get over, especially when Benson said, "Inside me the feelings of how happy I would be to reach the camp allowed me to forget the pain of each step." (p 244)

Still unbelievable how Benson, at just 12 years old, shows how capable and knowledgeable he is with how he's able to not only able to gather the necessary ingredients, but knows exactly how to create an effective medicine to help Alepho with his yellow fever. Not to mention how these boys, who aren't even teenagers yet, are out here excavating mountains and building roads. Insane.

One of this book's main themes is how the fog of war completely animalizes human behavior and eradicates empathy, so finally being able to see some good interactions from people outside these boys' family tree was a breath of fresh air, such as the Ethiopian woman showing forgiveness after accusing Benson of theft, and the solider in the Nissan standing up for Alepho and calling out the man that wanted to beat him.

Escape Palataka has probably been the craziest chapter so far, and seeing the specific instinctual thoughts of these boys was very impactful, including how Alepho recounts being told to, “if you don’t expect water, don’t eat.” And how he was able to SMELL water from miles away? Another interesting thing is the lack of info on such tragic events, such as the 1985 Wau Student Massacre that Yier recounts.

Probably the first moment in this entire book where things have began to look up for these boys, only took 154 pages!