David Ngor, the leader of the local Sudanese Cub Scout pack, knows it is important for boys to grow up in a positive environment where they can have fun and learn values like honesty, respect and responsibility. That’s what Cub Scouts offers.

In late 2005, Ngor was hired by the Twin Valley Council Boy Scouts to form an all-Sudanese pack. For four years, he has been a friend, mentor and teacher to a pack that now has 19 boys from first to fifth grade.

“It just keeps growing,” said the 27-year-old Ngor of North Mankato.

The Boy Scouts organization knew the best way to reach out to the Sudanese population was to find someone from within their community to build a level of trust, said Kirsten Hill, district executive for the Twin Valley Council Boy Scouts of America.

When Ngor was a boy, he wasn’t a Cub Scout. He was living amidst the violence and chaos of a civil war that raged across his native Sudan, Africa. He is from southern Sudan, which is a primarily Christian region in a Muslim-controlled government.

In 1999, Ngor emigrated to Des Moines, Iowa, and in 2005 he came to Mankato to study accounting and economics at Minnesota State University. Ngor also works nights at Navitor, a division of the Taylor Corporation in North Mankato.

“David was instrumental in setting up the pack because he went to the community, church and meetings to talk about what the Boy Scout program is,” said Hill.

Peter Ngor, David Ngor’s brother, has two sons in the pack and said he is happy to have a program like Cub Scouts for his boys.

“The children go out to play and do different activities. They enjoy it,” said Peter Ngor of Mankato. “I think there is value in children learning new things.”

Fun with a purpose

The Sudanese Cub Scouts do the same activities as other packs, and, just like other Cub Scouts, the Sudanese boys like camping out and learning to shoot a BB gun and a bow and arrow.

“I like the activities of making s’mores, sleeping out and doing the Pledge of Allegiance,” said Zeal Nhial, a third-grader at Good Shepherd Lutheran School in North Mankato.

Nhial has been a Scout since he was 5 years old. He has memories from Jack McGowan’s Farm in Mankato, where he made swords and raced the wooden boat that he built.

What Ngor has noticed about Nhial is that he is always one of the first boys to raise his hand to answer questions or volunteer.

In the past four years, Ngor has seen the boys earn badges and grow up in the process. Ngor recalled the first Cub Scout camp at McGowan’s Farm in the summer of 2006 when the boys ran around and didn’t listen.

“Now the boys are more social. They don’t fight. They have learned to respect and listen,” said Ngor. “Now I see a sense of responsibility.”

Friendship and teamwork have also grown among the pack, but it sneaks up on the boys.

“What makes it fun is there’s a lot of people to play with and make new friends,” said Kuany Khat, a fourth-grader at Washington Elementary School in Mankato.

Exciting achievements

The first badge the boys earn is the Bobcat Badge, in which they learn the Cub Scout Promise which holds them to do their best, put God first, be proud to be an American, help others and obey authority. They complete eight learning tracks, which include learning the Cub Scout sign, handshake and salute.

The boys are excited when they receive their badges, said Ngor.

“The good thing is I feel proud of the kids when they achieve something,” said Ngor. “My reward is when I see them grow and doing better things.”

Several boys have aged out of Cub Scouts and moved up to a mixed Boy Scout troop. Ngor follows the boys to the troop level to help them adjust.

“The Sudanese community are proud of them and are getting involved to help the kids out,” said Ngor.

And many people bought their popcorn. In 2009, popcorn sales shot up and the pack was able to open its own bank account to help fund activities.

Bridging the gap

On a national level, Boy Scouts of America has been actively reaching out to other cultures.

In the Sudanese pack, boys can maintain their culture and language, because Ngor can also speak to them in the Sudanese language of Nuer. Yet Cub Scouts also teaches them the importance of the American flag and how to be a good citizen.

“Boy Scouts helps them integrate from the Sudanese culture into the American culture,” said Ngor.

As a Sudanese American, Ngor has learned to adapt to a new country. When Ngor was about 12, his parents sent him to a refugee camp in Ethiopa. The United Nations camp was secured by guards and there he could attend school.

His parents are still in Sudan, but he has a wife and baby daughter, a brother and other relatives here. While his Scouts were born in America, Ngor understands that most of their parents began their lives in Sudan like him.

Ngor knows where the boys are coming from, and he is helping them get started in the right direction.

“(Cub Scouts) gives them an open door and an opportunity to look for meaningful, good things in the future,” said Ngor.