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Dennis Sasseville, President & Secretary

      Dennis attended high school in the greater Boston area and graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in Earth Sciences.  After receiving a Master's degree at the University of Maine and additional graduate research studies at Memorial University in Canada, Dennis and his wife, Kathy, returned to New Hampshire in 1976.  Dennis has worked 30 years as an environmental management consultant.  He specializes in the areas of water resources, management systems, international standards and sustainability.
     Dennis became a follower of Christ in 1975 and has been an active member of several New Hampshire churches, holding positions of Elder, School Board Chairman and serving on missions committees.   
     Dennis and Kathy live in Bedford and enjoy the company of their two daughters and sons-in-law.  Kathy supports her husband both professionally and in the efforts of the Life for Sudan ministry.  

Peter Nhiany, Vice President

      Peter Nhiany was born around 1980 in a small village called Tong in Baidit, Southern Sudan.  He is Dinka by tribe from the upper Nile region of Jongley province and the Bor district.  Peter fled his homeland of Sudan when only nine years old, leaving parents, brothers and sisters in their province that was devastated by war and genocide.
       Peter's town was repeatedly attacked by insurgents over a period of years.  Many, including children, were shot to death or captured.  These prolonged attacks on the Dinka people resulted in parents and children fleeing for their lives, often dispersing separately.  Fleeing in desperation and fear, Peter joined with other children to escape the unceasing attacks on Sudanese Christians.
      Many of the children made their way to Ethiopia and some to other neighboring countries such as Uganda and kenya in East Africa where they gathered in refugee camps.  Life in these camps was not easy due to food scarcity and endemic disease.  Many children perished in these camps in speite of the best efforts of humanitarian relief workers.  Nine-year old Peter would live in these refugee camps apart from family for the next 12 years.  His mother, sister, and two cousins in Sudan were killed during this period when their village was bombed from the air.
      In August 2001, through the now-famous Lost Boys rescue and resettlement program, Peter was one of the fortunate chosen to come to safety in the United States.  The Lutheran immigration service helped him resettle in Utica, New York.  But several months later Peter moved to Manchester, New Hampshire for employment opportunities and to join the existing Sudanese community of 400-500 already living in southern New Hampshire.
      Peter has worked as residential counselor at Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center helping people with developmental disabilities.  Currently, he is working as a care provider in Manchester while attending Granite State College to earn a degree in social and behavioral sciences.
      Peter became a Christ-follower (the first in his family) through his Christian schooling in Tong Village before fleeing Sudan.  Peter has been an active parishioner of Saint Joseph Cathedral in Manchester for the past four years.  He loves to grow in the Christian way of life and would like to help raise his generation in the same way.

Susan Byrd, Treasurer

    Susan has been a life-long resident of the Manchester, New Hampshire area.  She became a follower of Christ in 1974, and since then has served in several churches and Christian schools in the areas of music, Christian education, finances, and administration.  She and her husband, Timothy, have an adult daughter and son.  Susan supports Tim in his engineering consulting business in the areas of administration and finances.  
    Sue brings to the Life for Sudan organization a commitment and passion for serving the Lord and a shared interest along with her daughter in the people of Sudan.

0. Dennis R. Sasseville
0. Peter N. Nhiany
0. Susan J. Byrd
0. Tracy A. Wyman
0. Jean Mazzarella