AUDS

An entire generation of Sudanese youth have grown up as refugees in Cairo after leaving their war-torn home country. Marginalized by Egyptian culture and not fully accepted in the tribal society of their elders, many Sudenese youth find it impossible to find jobs or further their education beyond basic instruction.

Zechariah James Machar, known as Zee, started the African United Dreams Society, AUDS, to provide an alternative to the gang culture in which his peers were becoming involved. AUDS is a hip hop music and dance crew that performs at parties and cultural gatherings. AUDS's brand of hip hop speaks to the challenges refugees face, the wars that plague the African continent, and feature a primarily inspiration, Christian tone.

Zee gathers the members of AUDS around him for a prayer before a rehearsal. Zee, 19, moved to Cairo with his mother, brother and sister 13-years-ago from southern Sudan.

Sudanese youth can not go to Egyptian public school, instead they rely on refugee schools that are largely understaffed and underfunded. The main problem though exists at graduation from high school, as the schools are not accredited by the Egyptian nor the Sudanese governments, leaving graduates with few options to further their education.

Zee dribbles a basketball through a public square in Cairo.

Zee's role in AUDS is primarily as a manager, counselor and songwriter. Rapping duties fall primarily on Lil' Zissou,left and John, right, Zee's younger brother.

Members of the VIP hip hop crew wait outside of the Sudanese embassy in downtown Cairo to meet an American who has plans to record several hip hop groups who rap about social issues facing refugees in Cairo.

Zee navigates through a market in his Cairo neighborhood. Ten-years-ago, when Zee arrived in Cairo as a child with his family, relations between black Africans and Egyptians were extremely rough. Zee recounts the beatings he would receive growing up from gangs of Egyptian youth. Relations have improved since, but there is still unease on both sides.

Members of AUDS practice in the apartment Zee shares with his mother, brother and sister. The group performs Christian Hip Hop, expressing their belief and hope in the love of Jesus Christ, but set to beats they borrow from artists like R Kelly and 50 Cent.

Lil' Zissou pauses with the unplugged microphone the group practices with during rehearsal in Zee's home.

Zee, left, and Lil' Zissou talk outside on the balcony of Zee's home during a rehearsal.

Zee pleas to God for help and support in the continuing conflict in Sudan and in the lives of refugees around the world during a group prayer session in Cairo. Zee organizes the prayers every one to two months and holds them in a volunteers home. Zee's faith is his primary guiding principle and governs every aspect of his life.

Relatives come into the main room to pray with AUDS as Zee's prayers turn to Sudan.

In addition to singing, AUDS also has a football team. The members play on a borrowed sport court at a missionary school in Maadi, Cairo. Space to play sports is often hard to find, and Zee goes to great lengths to find AUDS members a space to play.

Zee walks down a street in Ain Shams, Cairo, a region known as "California," playing on the East Coast - West Coast split many Sudanese youth imagine in the city between the two gangs based on their listening to US Hip Hop. Zee began AUDS to help his fellow Sudanese, but he is unsure of what will happen in the coming year. He is currently cleaning houses to help lighten the load on his uncle, but he desperately wants to continue his education.