William was born in Aweil West county, Northern Bahr el Ghazal state, South Sudan and a son of the former paramount chief of Ayat, now deceased. At the age of 8, William joined the "Lost Boys of Sudan", who escaped from the civil war, first to Ethiopia, then to Kakuma refugee camp, Kenya. He became one of the leaders of the boys at Kakuma refugee camp. Now a Canadian citizen, William returned to his home country to help rebuild his community. He is now based in Aweil, Northern Bahr el Ghazal state, South Sudan and currently working on finishing up the second primary school and manufactures biosand water filters for installation in village homes.

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