Main character bio

Malaki Johanes

Malaki was born on February 2nd, 1991. He is a very caring, loving, person with a not so apparent sense of humor. He is the second child in his family of three children. His mom makes clothing for a living and his dad was the village chef. When he was young his dad taught him how to make many of his special dishes and gave him a love for cooking. In 2003 when he was twelve his father was attacked by the janjaweed when he was going to the market. This was a huge impact since his mother did not make very much money so they became very poor and Malaki had to be the man of the house. On his journey to freedom his brother dies of starvation from their lack of food which causes his mother to become an emotional wreck. Malaki encourages his mother and tries to lift her spirits up by telling her its going to be okay.
Malaki takes after his father in the sense that he has a gift for cooking. That gives him the job as the assistant chef of the village. He makes enough money to support his family with minimal food. He is a very good leader when it comes to keeping people safe. He isn’t really scared of much except that he is terrified of snakes. He becomes very vulnerable when meeting new people which makes it hard for him to adjust to new settings.
He is anti the government at this point in his life because of the ways the government takes ownership of the citizens. Also he hates the fact that the government wont stop the killings. At this point in his life he is not practicing religion because he is so caught up in his family and staying alive.
He is serious and hardworking and is looking to find freedom in whatever he does. He is an optimist because he is really just looking for happiness for his family and finds the best in everything or at least tries.
Malaki is very close to his mother and his best friend Aziz. Aziz and Malaki have been through many hardships and continue to go on this journey together. His sister and him have a protective relationship. They both take care of each other and will stand by each other forever.He also misses his dad very much. His brother and him fight but still love each other. At this point he is not looking for love or a relationship.
At this time in his life, him and his siblings go to the local school and when he eventually gets to the US he goes to the local public school. He plans to go to the US and graduate high school and then go on to a culinary arts school. Even though he has a great obsession for food he eats what ever he can get.
During his journey he carries a journal which he writes in every night. It is his place of comfort. He has many aspirations in which he would like to fulfill such as being a chef in the US, and having a good life for him and his family. He is motivated because he does not want to have his family in the future to have the same life that he did.