Refugee from Sudan hopes to bring family to Arizona

A Valley man who moved here as a refugee during the Sudan Civil War 15-years-ago, part of the so-called "Lost Boys" is now doing everything he can to bring his wife and kids here to Arizona.

He's worked at a Phoenix grocery store since he moved here, and now longtime customers are helping make that dream a reality.

Santino Nyang came to Arizona as a refugee in the year 2000. He's one of the original group of over 20,000 "Lost Boys of Sudan" separated from their families during the Sudanese Civil War. Now he's fighting for his wife and two children to come to America.

"If they come to this country, I will be so happy. Nothing I think will replace that," said Santino Nyang.

He married his wife during a trip to Africa in 2010; they've had two kids; a 4-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl. He's hoping to bring the family to Phoenix and raise his kids here.

"War never stops, so I don't want to see my kids going through what I went through, and that's why I want my kids to be here, so they can be safe," said Nyang.

Nyang works at Fry's Food and Drug in North Phoenix where regular customer John Chandler became a close friend and helped set up a GoFundMe.com account to raise money to reunite the family.

"Santino had a nice donation Monday that about floored me and honestly brought tears to my eyes, an organization or company called "New Beginnings LLC" donated $500," said John Chandler.

"Here in America it's a very good country, a very good land, I can say that. So I would love to see my kids here, that's my concern, and also to provide for my kids as a father and as a daddy," said Nyang.

If you would like to help Santino Nyang bring his family to America, you can donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/stqzsk