Southern Sudan, 2009:
Nya calls the large drill that has arrived in her village an iron giraffe. The women in the village gather rocks that are then pounded into gravel. Nya is still unsure of the purpose but notices how everyone is working together.

Itang refugee camp, Ethiopia, 1985:
Salva realizes the woman he is chasing is not his mother. He reaches a realization that his family is truly gone. He thinks of his uncle who got him through the desert by having him focus on one small goal at a time. He decides this is how he will continue. Six years later Salva is still in the camp when rumors circulate that the camp will be closed. He is now seventeen and the Ethiopian government is about to collapse. Then, men in trucks arrive and tell the people at the camp that they must leave Ethiopia. The men shoot guns and chase them out of the camp toward the Gilo River, a river known for its deadly crocodiles.