A story that inspired a mission
20 years of What Is The What
In 2026, we mark twenty years since the publication of Dave Eggers’ What Is The What, the story of Valentino Achak Deng that helped bring the VAD Foundation to life.
Find the book
A remarkable collaboration
Valentino Achak Deng and Dave Eggers
What Is The What tells the story of Valentino Achak Deng, who was forced to flee his village during Sudan’s civil war and became one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. Dave Eggers shaped Valentino’s lived experience into a novel that brought his story to readers around the world.
The book’s publication inspired the founding of the VAD Foundation in 2006. Valentino and Dave co-founded the organization, joining storytelling with a commitment to educational opportunity and sustainable development in South Sudan.
Meet our team and board
In Valentino’s words
A story told together
What Is The What is the soulful account of my life: from the time I was separated from my family in Marial Bai to the thirteen years I spent in Ethiopian and Kenyan refugee camps, to my encounter with vibrant Western cultures beginning in Atlanta, to the generosity and the challenges that I encountered elsewhere.
This book began as part of my struggle to reach out to others through public speaking. I told my story to many audiences, but I wanted the world to know the whole truth of my existence. In the fall of 2003, I asked Mary Williams to put me in touch with an author to help me write my biography. Mary contacted Dave Eggers, and Dave and I met and became good friends. We agreed that all proceeds from the book would be used to improve the lives of Sudanese in Sudan and elsewhere.
A story that continues to create change