In American society we live our lives at a pace that witnesses time as rapid frames of perceptions that fly by us every day. I imagine a remote control that is stuck on fast forward as we watch time pass at break neck speed. We seldom slow the frames down and discover the amazing people around us. It is a great opportunity that is missed. Over the past several years the frames that tell the story about refugees in the Salt Lake Valley have become a lot clearer. But before I write about these people let me digress for a moment. We were having trouble with raccoons that moved into a space above our deck. I had tried everything to persuade them to leave. I bought a stinky spray that advertised it would work. But a breeze blew the mist back into my face and it took three showers to eliminate the odor. We tried mothballs and all it did was encourage us to leave the deck. So I decided to purchase a live trap and the plan was to take our little friends for a ride out to the country. The plan was sabotaged by the internet. My wife researched relocating raccoons and found that they seldom survive. It is largely due to the fact they are exposed to predators and they cannot find food supplies and shelter in the new location in enough time. In short their lack of knowledge about the new surroundings jeopardizes their survival. My plan was cancelled and we installed screens at the access points—although the raccoons still mock me by walking around on the roof late at night. For a moment imagine you had to flee your home and relocated to a Maasai village in Africa. The plane lands on a dirt road. You exit the plane and the pilot introduces you to the village elder who does not speak any English and then leaves. How will you assimilate into this new life? Where is the water supply? How will you find and keep shelter? How will you learn any of this without being able to communicate? Like the raccoons your survival is in some jeopardy in these new surroundings. This past year we provided housing for three refugee families. The first was Ismael’s family who fled from Somalia to Kenya when he was only 10 years old in 1981 after civil war broke out. They left everything they owned behind. They lived in a refugee camp for the next 15 years in extreme poverty conditions. Most of those years were spent living in a shelter the family constructed from clay and branches. They came from a middle class family in Somalia but now they often spent each day getting the bare necessities for survival by standing in long lines to receive food. Ishmael married Najati during this time. Child birth mortality rates are very high in the refugee camps and Ishmael and Najati lost three children. All of these children would likely be alive today if they had access to the American medical technology that we often take for granted. They are raising their son in a Habitat home in West Jordan now. Next is Mezeret, she was a news reporter in Ethiopia that had to flee the country after a new government regime threatened her life. Leaving everything behind in Ethiopia, she and her two sons eventually ended up in Salt Lake City. Pierre and Serafina and their three children are the third family. From 1993 to 2004 over 260,000 lives were taken as a result of political unrest in the small country of Burundi. These atrocities are similar to the events that took place in Rwanda, but Rwanda had sought help from the U.S. and Burundi sought help from China which kept many of the events happening there out of our media. After 13 years in a refugee camp in Tanzania they were relocated to Salt Lake City. Upon arriving in Salt Lake each of these families faced many of the same problems. One of the greatest initial obstacles was learning to communicate. Knowing the language provides the most elementary foundation for working and earning an income. Imagine it from your own perspective in the example of being dropped off in the Maasai village. Shortly after Meseret’s Salt Lake City arrival she was evicted from her apartment. With only a limited grasp of English she had no concept of where to go or what to do. She sat holding her baby with her other young son at her side crying on the steps. A gentleman who was driving by stopped and asked her what was wrong. She could not communicate with him. He then told her he would drive her to the refugee center where someone could speak to her in her language, but she refused because she did not want to get into a car with a stranger. He parked his car and they took the bus to the refugee center. Upon arrival he left her in the capable hands of someone that could speak to her and walked out the door. She never saw him again, yet she credits him with saving her life. All three of the families have assimilated into American life. They have found and kept gainful employment. Meseret is an operating room tech at Primary Children’s Hospital, Ismael works for an electric sign company and Pierre and Sarafina both work in the food industry (they were farmers in Burundi so maybe it is fitting). I am certain they could teach a thing or two to the raccoons in my backyard about survival. There are an estimated 1,200 refugees relocated to Utah every year. The majority of them face the same uphill battle of assimilating into our community. Our three Habitat for Humanity families are a testament to how hard they will work to be successful in our community. If you take a moment to slow the frames of your life down long enough to have a conversation with some of these refugees you will gain a deep understanding of how strong they are and be humbled by it. All of us at Salt Lake Valley Habitat for Humanity have gained a profound respect for how far they have come with such difficult circumstances.
Posted on: Sat, 11 Jan 2014 22:45:41 +0000
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