Motivated by the loss of their parents and their need to find food and safety from the conflict, an estimated 20,000 boys from rural southern Sudan fled to bordering Ethiopia and Kenya.[8] Much of the travel took place by foot in large groups with the boys traveling in single file lines.[9] The journey from South Sudan to the nearest refugee camp could be up to thousands of miles. Travel ranged from a span of weeks to two or more years. Often, the children traveled with no possessions besides the clothes on their backs.[10] The Boys often depended on the charity of villages they passed for food, necessities, and treatment of the sick.