Uncle Jewiir, the uncle of Salva Dut, is a former South Sudanese soldier. However, he's later murdered by soldiers from the North. Jewiir's death is a traumatic event for Salva, who is forced to fend for himself and beg for food without Jewiir to protect him.
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| Character | Description |
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| Salva | Salva, whose full name is Salva Mawien Dut Ariik, is an 11-year-old Sudanese boy at the start of the story. A member of the Dinka tribe, he is separated from his family in war-torn Sudan. He escapes and eventually returns to Sudan to build wells for villagers. Read More |
Salva is terrified, but he hopes that the soldiers will leave now that they've stolen everything they can. But one of the soldiers fires three shots at Uncle Jewiir, and only then do the six soldiers run away. Uncle Jewiir's death is a horrific tragedy.
Uncle is shot by the men. They buried uncle and stopped walking for the day. Salva feels numb and didn't have much time to grieve, but he feels as though uncle and Marial had left him their strength. He finds himself walking faster and more boldly.
Chapter 14, Salva: Ifo refugee camp, Kenya, 1991–96Salva, now twenty-two years old, has lived in two refugee camps in Kenya for the past five years. Kakuma, the first camp, felt like a prison. After two years, Salva left Kakuma and walked with a group of men for months to camp Ifo.
The pain was terrible. Salva tried to bite his lip, but the awfulness of that never-ending day was too much for him. He lowered his head and the tears began to flow. Soon Salva was crying so hard that he could hardly get his breath.
Nya was so confused about the visitors and what they translated to the chief because she didn't know what they were talking about.
This chapter is key in the story for both Nya and Salva. Nya, who has been shown to be a keen observer of life around her, observes the beginnings of a project she is told has to do with water. She is confused. Her life is consumed by the quest for water, so she believes she knows all there is to know.
Nya is so used to walking the many miles to the pond that she finds it hard to accept the idea that there may have been water beneath her the entire time. Salva and the others bury Uncle Jewiir in a hole. The group doesn't walk anymore that day. Instead, they stop to pay their respects to Jewiir.
The worst moment of the day happened near the end. Salva stubbed his bare toe on a rock, and his whole toenail came off. The pain was terrible. Salva tried to bite his lip, but the awfulness of that never-ending day was too much for him.
Chapter 14, Salva: Ifo refugee camp, Kenya, 1991–96
After two years, Salva left Kakuma and walked with a group of men for months to camp Ifo. Here, they found the conditions much the same as at Kakuma. Strong and healthy, Salva wants to work and save money. But with no work available, all he can do is wait.Salva was 17 now and was respected as a young man in the camp. He found out that the Ethiopian government was falling apart and they were the ones running the refugee camps. Everyone at the camp was being forced to leave. There were thousands of people walking and leaving and Salva had to leave too.
One day, visitors come to Nya's village. The visitors arrive in a jeep, and speak to the village chief, Nya's uncle. Nya is confused about why the visitors are here. However, Dep informs her that they've come to talk about water.
What happens to the men that are dying and given water by the women in the group? They are able to get up and walk with the group.
How was Nya's village able to afford the well? A school in America raised money to build the well. Everyone in Nya's village got jobs in the city and paid for the well themselves.
How did Nya remove the thorn? She picked it out with her fingers.She used a hairpin to pick it out. She used another thorn to pick it out.
When the group reaches the Nile, everyone sets to work cutting and gathering reeds. Some members of the group know how to use reeds to build boats and flotation devices. Salva finds that gathering reeds distracts him from his hunger and fear. After two full days of work, the group has built a small fleet of canoes.
Jewiir is quiet and solemn, but then he smiles and tells Salva, “I will look after you.” Jewiir shows Salva the rifle he used in the army—a rifle he intends to use to catch food. Later that day he shoots an antelope and cooks it for Salva and the other people in the group.
A similarity between Salva and Nya is that they both thought someone or people they loved were dead. Nya thought her baby sister, Akeer, was going to die, but she had lived. Salva thought his parents and siblings all died, but his mother, father, sisters, and brother were still living.
Salva feels that everything is upside down, because the old woman asks him how he will find his family. She is an adult, but she only has questions instead of answers. Salva works very hard so that the old woman will not send him away.
What three questions occupy Salva's thoughts? Salva's 3 questions where are we going?where is my family?
As night falls on the island, the mosquitoes come out, tormenting the refugees in Salva's group. Nobody sleeps that night—“the mosquitoes made sure of that.” The next day, Salva scratches his mosquito bites until they bleed. The travelers climb back into their canoes and paddle onward.
One evening, Salva accidentally steps on another boy's hand. The boy is Dinka, but hails from a different village than Salva's. The boy is angry, but quickly softens. He asks Salva, “Your family?” Salva shakes his head, and the boy says, “Me, too.” The boy introduces himself as Marial, and they become friends.
1. Part A: Based on the text in Chapter 5, how did Salva know that Marial was not from his village? – Marial said he was from Ethiopia.– Marial ate different food than Salva.
2 Why does everyone leave Salva behind at the end of the chapter? They all leave him behind because they could not afford to take care of a child, while barely surviving themselves; they thought he would be a burden on them.
How old is Salva?
46 years (December 1, 1974)
A Long Walk to Water CharactersA young boy, Marial is Salva Dut's only friend early on in the refugee crisis, who mysteriously disappears, possibly because he's eaten by a lion. The older brother of Nya. An Irish aid worker who teaches Salva Dut how to read and write English, and how to play volleyball.
A Long Walk to Water is based on the true story of Salva, one of some 3,800 Sudanese “Lost Boys†airlifted to the United States beginning in the mid 1990s. This poignant story of Salva's life is told side-by-side with the story of Nya, a young girl who lives today in one of those villages.
