JOURNAL
URNALUSA

Refugeesbuilding
newin thelives
united states

U.S. DEPARTMENT 0F STATE / BUREAU OF INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION PROGRAMSU.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
VOLUME 15 / NUMBER 7

http://www.america.gov/publications/ejournalusa.html
International Information Programs:
Coordinator		
Executive Editor		Director of Publications

Dawn L. McCall
Jonathan Margolis
Michael Jay Friedman

Editorial Director		
Managing Editor		Production Manager		Designer 		Mary T. Chunko
Nadia Shairzay
Janine Perry
Chloe D. Ellis

Photo Editor		
Cover Design		
Reference Specialist				Maggie Johnson Sliker
Min-Chih Yao
Anita N. Green

Cover: The Espinosa family from Cuba sits in their New York home.
Courtesy of Jay Capers

The Bureau of International Information Programs of the
U.S. Department of State publishes electronic journals
under the eJournal USA title. Each examines major
issues facing the United States and the international
community, as well as U.S. society, values, thought andinstitutions.
Twelve journals are published annually in English,
followed by versions in French, Portuguese, Russian, andSpanish. Selected editions also appear in Arabic, Chineseand Persian. Each journal is catalogued by volume andnumber.
The opinions expressed in the journals do not necessarilyreflect the views or policies of the U.S. government. The
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E-mail: eJournalUSA@state.gov

About This IssueT

his eJournal USA not only chronicles
lives of desperation and struggle, butalso offers examples of friendship andhope. In this issue:• a boy is separated from his family and©AP Photo/Ed Ford

spends his childhood trying to elude thecarnage of the Second Sudanese Civil War;• a Cuban family of 10 faces persecution for
their political beliefs in their home country;• a young girl flees war and takes anuncertain journey across the Pacific;• a man escapes ethnic violence in Rwanda
and subsists on the street and in a refugee
camp for 10 years.

All these people left their homelands
The United States welcomes more than half of all refugees who are resettled in a third country,
and came to the United States as refugees,
more than all other resettlement countries combined. Shown here is the Statue of Liberty in
New York City, a symbol of hope for many newcomers to the United States.
and all were met by American sponsors
who helped them build new lives in the
U.S. Through interviews and first-person
accounts, our journal tells the stories of refugees who are building new homes and lives in the United States — and of
those Americans who guide and help them.
Diversity and plurality are among the United States’ defining national characteristics. These national values inspire
individual Americans to strengthen the country’s social fabric by welcoming and helping integrate refugees into U.S.
communities. The resettled refugees in turn enrich American culture as well as the nation’s social, economic and legal
framework.
The stories and articles in these pages explain the U.S. government’s commitment to help refugees and illustrate howthat commitment is embodied by thousands of Americans who extend a hand to aid and befriend some of the nation’s
newest — and bravest — residents.
												— The Editors

A refugee is a person who:
• has been forced from his or her home;• has crossed an international border for safety;• has a well-founded fear of persecution in his or her native country, due to religion, race, nationality,

political opinion or membership in a particular social group.

eJournal USA 1

U.S. Department of State / July 2010 / Volume 15 / Number 7

http://www.america.gov/publications/ejournalusa.htm

Refugees Building New Lives in the United States
4 The United States’ Commitment to
Refugees
Eric P. Schwartz, U.S. Assistant Secretaryof State for Population, Refugees andMigration
Supporting the world’s most vulnerable citizens is a
U.S. foreign policy priority.
5 Refugee Resettlement in the UnitedStates
Source: Bureau of Population Refugees andMigration
8 Thirty Years of the Refugee Act of1980
Doris Meissner
This landmark piece of legislation opened up thedoors for millions to secure refugee or asylum status
in the United States.

Personal Accounts
14

Photo Gallery
17

Famous (and Not-So-Famous)
Refugees Making a Difference
Images of refugees who have overcome obstacles toachieve success and recognition in their new U.S.
communities and beyond.
Interview

21

Interview
10 No Longer Running for His Life: One
of Sudan’s “Lost Boys” Helps Recently
Arrived Refugees Settle in His New
HomelandAdier Deng (Sudan)

Afghan-American Helps Cuban
Family Achieve Homeownership,
Economic Security in the United States
Rogelio Espinosa (Cuba)
Ali Nadir (Rochester, New York)“They Just Have Good Hearts:”
Two Families Recount Their
Pennsylvania Welcome
Kapitanov and Kapitanova Families (Georgia
and Uzbekistan)
Personal Accounts

23

eJournal USA 2

Iraqi Veterinarian’s Spirit, Persistence
Inspire American Volunteer
Mohammed Yousuf (Iraq)
Andrew Masloski (Washington, D.C.)

Interview
26

Refugee’s 10-Year Odyssey Takes Himfrom Danger, Despair to New Life As
Proud Caregiver
Janvier Tuyishime (Rwanda)
Photo Gallery

29

Helping Refugees Make a Home in
the United States
Images of refugees resettling in the United States,
receiving help from neighbors and making new
homes.
Personal Accounts

32 Bhutanese Refugee, Classmates Learn
English and More on Teacher’s Town
Tour
Kapil Dhungel (Bhutan)
Johanna Young (Concord, New Hampshire)
Interview
36 Former Child Refugee Now Helps
Advance U.S. Refugee Protection
PolicyHoa Tran (Vietnam)
39 Additional Resources
A collection of books, articles, websites and films on
refugees

eJournal USA 3

The United States’ Commitment to Refugees

State Department

By Eric P. Schwartz, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State forPopulation, Refugees and Migration

Assistant Secretary of State Eric P. Schwartz

On March 17th, 2010, the United Statescelebrated the 30th anniversary of the Refugee
Act of 1980, which has proved to be acornerstone of our international architecture to protect theworld’s most vulnerable people — refugees. This landmark
legislation is a testament to the dedication and passionof the late Senator Edward Kennedy and other membersof Congress who insisted on an effective and impartial
system to respond to the needs of those displaced byconflict and unable to return home.
The Refugee Act reflects the highest American
values and aspirations — of compassion, generosity andleadership in serving vulnerable populations. Moreover,reliance on the support of millions of individual
Americans is a fundamental component of the successthat the Act has achieved. The U.S. Congress passed

the legislation that created the Refugee Act, but it has
ultimately been local communities that have helped
to safeguard the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program by
opening their hearts, homes, and communities to refugees
from around the world.
Most refugees have experienced great adversity —seeing their families and communities uprooted, injured
or destroyed — and living in highly vulnerable conditions
for years or even decades.
The United States has resettled more than 2.5 million
refugees since 1980, more than all other resettlement
countries combined. Though the resettlement andintegration processes are challenging, and many see
friends or family members who are overwhelmed by thetransition, most of those resettled in the United States
ultimately adapt and thrive — an adjustment that requires
enormous will, the support of solid communities, and astrong measure of endurance. Among those resettled in the
United States since 1980 are Vietnamese and Lao Hmong
refugees who now call California home, Iraqis who fled
Baghdad and are starting new lives on the shores of Lake
Michigan, and Somalis who left the arid East African
landscape to restart lives in Minnesota and Maine.
Refugees have resettled in the United States for
hundreds of years and have made valuable contributions
to the growth and success of our local communities,
regional economies, and national institutions. As anation, we understand that our diversity is our strength.
We’ve seen time and again that our ability to integrate
disparate peoples from across the globe is a model for
creating a vibrant society, thriving cultural and intellectual
communities, and democratic governance based on good
citizenship. As a nation, we’ve made it clear that one of
our foreign policy priorities is to support the world’s mostvulnerable citizens, and we’ve learned that when you reachout to help another in need, you reap great benefits. neJournal USA 4

Refugee Resettlement in the United States
Source: Bureau of Population Refugees and Migration©AP Photo/Aaron Favila

individual qualifies as a refugee and,if so, works toward the best possible
durable solution for each refugee:
safe return to the home country,
local integration, or third-country
resettlement.
According to UNHCR’s latest
statistics, there are approximately
10.5 million refugees in the world.
The vast majority of these refugees
will receive support in the country
to which they fled until they canvoluntarily and safely return to theirhome country. A small number ofrefugees will be allowed to become
citizens in the country to which theyfled, and an even smaller number— primarily those who are at thehighest risk — will be resettled ina third country. While UNHCR
Vietnamese refugees in the Philippines listen to a representative from the International Migration
reports that less than 1 percent ofOrganization (IOM) as they prepare to board a plane for the United States. The U.S. government works
all refugees are eventually resettledwith the IOM to help resettle refugees.
in third countries, the United States
welcomes more than half of these refugees, more than all
he United States is proud of its history ofother resettlement countries combined.
welcoming immigrants and refugees. The U.S.
refugee resettlement program reflects the United
U.S. Refugee Admissions Program:States’ highest values and aspirations. Since 1975,
Americans have welcomed almost 3 million refugees from
Application and Case Processing
all over the world. Refugees have built new lives, homes
and communities in towns and cities in all 50 states.
When UNHCR — or, rarely, a U.S. Embassy or a
specially trained non-governmental organization (NGO)
Resettlement: The Solution For Only A Few— refers a refugee applicant to the United States forresettlement, the case is first received and processed by anOverseas Processing Entity (OPE). The U.S. Department
A refugee is someone who has fled from his or herof State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migrationhome country and cannot return because he or she has(PRM) works with international and non-governmental
a well-founded fear of persecution based on religion,organizations to run eight regional OPEs around therace, nationality, political opinion or membership in aworld. Under PRM’s guidance, the OPEs process
particular social group. The first step for most refugees isapplications of refugees eligible for resettlement in theto register with the United Nations High Commissioner
United States.
for Refugees (UNHCR) in the country to which s/he has
Some refugees can start the application process withfled. UNHCR has the mandate to provide international
the OPE without a referral from UNHCR or anotherprotection to refugees. UNHCR determines if anTeJournal USA 5

United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) is comprised of:• the Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM) of the U.S. Departmentof State;• the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) of the U.S. Departmentof Homeland Security;• the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR) of the U.S. Department of Health andHuman Services;• ten domestic non-governmental organizations with a total of more than 350
affiliated offices across the United States;• thousands of private citizens who volunteer their time and skills to help refugees
resettle in the United States.

entity. This includes close relatives of refugees alreadyresettled in the United States and refugees who belong
to specific groups set forth in statute or identified by the
Department of State as being eligible for direct access tothe program.
The OPEs collect biographic and other informationfrom the applicants for security screening. The security
screening ensures that terrorists and/or criminals do notenter the United States through the refugee program.
Officers from the United States Citizenship andImmigration Services (USCIS) review all the informationthat the OPE has collected and also have a face-to-faceinterview with each refugee applicant before deciding
whether to approve him or her for resettlement in the
United States.
When a USCIS officer approves a refugee foradmission, the next step is a medical screening to
identify medical needs and to ensure that people with acontagious disease, such as tuberculosis, do not enter theUnited States. Finally, the OPE requests a “sponsorshipassurance” from a U.S.-based resettlement agency thatis experienced in providing assistance to newly arrived
refugees. All refugees are offered a brief U.S. culturalorientation course prior to departure for the United States.
Those refugees who receive USCIS approval toresettle in the United States enter the Refugee Admissions
Program (USRAP). USRAP is a cooperative publicprivate program made up of a number of participants.
The support of millions of Americans is fundamental tothe program’s success. Though Congress mandated theprogram, it is local communities that have ensured thesuccess of the resettlement program by welcoming andhelping refugees from around the world.

The total processing
time varies depending on
an applicant’s location andother circumstances, but
the average time from theinitial UNHCR referral toarrival as a refugee in the
United States is generally
from eight months to one
year.
Planning for
Refugees’ Arrival in
the United States

The Department of State works with ten domestic
resettlement agencies that have proven knowledge andresources to resettle refugees. Every week, representativesof each of these ten agencies meet near Washington,
D.C., to review the biographic information and othercase records sent by the OPEs in order to determine
where a refugee will be resettled in the United States.
During this meeting, the resettlement agencies match
the particular needs of each incoming refugee with thespecific resources available. If a refugee has relatives in the
United States, he or she is likely to be resettled near orwith them. Otherwise, the resettlement agency that agrees
to “sponsor” the case decides on the best match between acommunity’s resources and the refugee’s needs.
The information about the location and the nameof the sponsoring agency are communicated back to theoriginating OPE, which then works with the International
Organization for Migration (IOM) to bring the refugee tohis or her new home. The cost of refugee transportation
is provided as a loan which refugees are required to begin
repaying after they are established in the United States.
Once in the United States
As stated above, the Department of State has
cooperative agreements with ten domestic resettlement
agencies to resettle refugees. While some of theagencies have religious affiliations, they are not allowed
to proselytize. The standard cooperative agreement
between the Department of State and each of thedomestic resettlement agencies specifies the goods andservices that the agency must provide to each refugee.

eJournal USA 6©AP Photo/Sayyid Azim

and other resettlement-related
expenses that are not donatedor provided by volunteers.
Though the Departmentof State’s Reception andPlacement program is limited
to the first weeks after arrival,
the Department of Health andHuman Services’ Office of
Refugee Resettlement works
through the states and nongovernmental organizations toprovide longer-term cash andmedical assistance, as well as
language and social services.
Refugees receive work
authorization cards andare encouraged to become
Burundian refugees wave goodbye as they leave Tanzania for new homes in the United States.
employed as soon as possible.
Based on years of experience,
All together, the ten domestic resettlement agencies havethe U.S. refugee resettlement program has found thatabout 350 affiliates throughout the United States. Eachpeople learn English and begin to function comfortably
agency headquarters stays in touch with the affiliates
much faster if they start work soon after arrival. Most
to monitor the resources (e.g., interpreters who speak
refugees begin in entry-level jobs, even if they have highvarious languages, the size and special features of available
level skills or education. With time, many, if not most,
housing, the availability of schools with special services,
refugees move ahead professionally and find both successmedical care, English classes, counseling, etc.) that eachand satisfaction in the United States.
affiliate’s community can offer.
After one year, refugees are expected to apply for
As the cooperative agreement requires, all refugees
permanent residence (commonly referred to as a green
are met at the airport upon arrival in the United States bycard) and, after five years in the United States, a refugee issomeone from the sponsoring resettlement affiliate and/eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship. n
or a family member or friend. They are taken to theirapartment, which has furnishings, appliances, climateappropriate clothing and some of the food typical of the
refugee’s culture. Shortly after arrival, refugees arehelped to start their lives in the United States.
This includes applying for a social security card,
U.S. Resettlement Agencies
registering children in school, learning how
to reach and use shopping facilities, arranging• Church World Service
medical appointments and connecting with social• Domestic & Foreign Missionary Societyor language services.
• Ethiopian Community Development Council
The Department of State’s Reception and• Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society
Placement program provides assistance for• Bureau of Refugee Programs
refugees to settle in the United States. It supplies• International Rescue Committee
resettlement agencies a one-time sum of $1,800• Lutheran Immigration & Refugee Service
per refugee to defray a refugee’s costs during the• U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants
first few weeks. Most of these funds go toward• U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
the refugees’ rent, furniture, food and clothing, as• World Relief
well as to pay for agency staff salaries, office spaceeJournal USA 7

Thirty Years of the Refugee Act of 1980

© AP Photo/Adam Madel

By Doris Meissner

Since passage of the Refugee Act of 1980, more than 3 million refugees and asylum-seekers have come to the United States. Here, an Albanian family from
Kosovo registers for resettlement in the United States.

Doris Meissner served as Commissioner of the U.S.
Immigration and Naturalization Service from 1993 to 2000
and as a senior official in the U.S. Department of Justicefrom 1973 to 1986. She is presently a senior fellow at the
Migration Policy Institute in Washington, D.C.

T

he Refugee Act of 1980 has made it possible formore than 3 million people to find protection
and resettlement in the United States. By
establishing the legal basis through which individuals cansecure refugee or asylum status, the Act has extended thenation’s welcoming hand to refugees and asylum-seekers
worldwide.*

The Act signaled a fundamental re-thinking of theway the United States fulfills its longstanding commitment
to principles of international human rights and refugee
relief. In spearheading its passage, the late Senator Edward
M. Kennedy helped complete an overhaul of immigration
law and policy begun by his brother, President John
F. Kennedy, in 1963. The Refugee Act built upon the
Immigration and Nationality Act Amendments of 1965
signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson that had ended 40
years of quotas based on national origin and opened theUnited States to immigrants from all parts of the world.
For 15 years after the adoption of the 1965
amendments, U.S. law continued to limit refugeeadmissions to those escaping communism oreJournal USA 8

Credit: © AP Images/Scott Applewhite

Senator Edward M. Kennedy addresses a U.S. Senate
committee on refugee policy in 1985.

repression in Middle Eastern countries. The Refugee Actof 1980 completed the overhaul, allowing for historiclevels of immigration and refugee resettlement leadingsome to call the United States the “first universal nation.”
The Act:• adopted the international definition of a refugee

established by the 1951 United Nations Convention
Relating to the Status of Refugees as someone who
is unable to return to his or her country because ofa “well-founded fear of persecution” based on race,
religion, nationality, political opinion or membership ina social group;• replaced ad hoc responses to refugee emergencies with asystematic process for annually reviewing and adjusting
refugee admissions ceilings;• authorized the granting of refugee status to individuals
who are already present in the United States under alegal designation known as political asylum;• provided for resettlement assistance — both monetary
and through support for sponsorships — to newly
arrived refugees to help them rebuild their lives andstart anew.
Within weeks of its passage, the provisions of the1980 act were put to the test.

Between April and October 1980, a boatlift fromMariel, Cuba, brought 125,000 asylum-seekers to Florida’s
shores. The boatlift represented the first significant
asylum emergency the United States had experienced on
its own territory. Before 1980, only those already approved
for admission from abroad were eligible to come to theUnited States as refugees.
Mariel was followed by successive waves of asylumseekers from Central American countries plagued by longrunning civil conflicts. The U.S. response was initially
underfunded and fragmented. However, in the early
1990s the United States re-designed its asylum process
and established a new system that has proven timely andresponsive, as well as fair and impartial. As a result, theUnited States now grants political asylum to people from
more than 105 countries each year.
Likewise, U.S. overseas refugee admissions programs
have been transformed. In the 1980s these programs
served primarily refugees from the former Soviet Union
and Southeast Asia. Today U.S. admissions programs
include a much wider range of refugee populations. The
programs work in conjunction with key international
humanitarian institutions, such as the United Nations
High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), and othercountries that share the U.S.’s commitment to refugees,
for example Canada and Norway. As a result, the UnitedStates now resettles refugees from more than 65 countries
and provides relief and assistance for refugee and displaced
populations around the world. Each new refugee group
expands U.S. diversity and enriches American culture.
While immigration has often been controversial,
the U.S. refugee and asylum system is widely accepted
as a success. By affirming core principles of international
human rights and refugee protection within a legal
framework that allows for flexibility to meet new andchanging needs, the Refugee Act of 1980 has advanced theUnited States’ commitment to providing safety to many of
the world’s most vulnerable people. As a result millions —from Somalia to Kosovo to Iraq — have found welcome
and hope in the United States. n* Refugees receive permission to enter the U.S. from anothercountry, while asylum-seekers arrive without prior screening
and apply for political asylum upon entry into the country.
The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views orpolicies of the U.S. government.

eJournal USA 9

Interview

No Longer Running for His Life

Courtesy of Julie Denesha

One of Sudan’s “Lost Boys” Helps Recently Arrived
Refugees Settle in His New Homeland

Adier Deng was forced to leave his home in South Sudan at the age of four and spent his childhood on the run and in a refugee
camp until resettling in the United States in 2000.

Adier Deng fled his home in South Sudan at the age offour in 1989 during the Second Sudanese Civil War. He wasseparated from his family, who now lives in a refugee camp in
Uganda. Deng’s mother died while on the way to the camp.
After an arduous journey to Ethiopia and to a refugee
camp in Kenya, Adier was resettled in the United Statesat the age of 15. Now, already having earned a Masters in
Business Administration, Adier is in law school and also
works as a Human Rights Officer at the Diocese of Kansas
City–St. Joseph, helping newly arrived refugees.
Question: Why did you leave your home in South Sudan?
Adier: I left my home in Sudan because of the war thattook place since the ’80s between Northern Sudan andSouthern Sudan. I had to escape for safety; we were chasedout of our villages when I was 4 years old and had to flee
to Ethiopia.

Q: Were you with your family when you left Sudan?
Adier: [I was] not [with] my family. My family [was] inthe village and I worked in the cattle camp at the time.
The cattle camp and the village were attacked separately
and we were forced to flee to different directions. My
parents [fled] south towards Uganda and I [fled towards]
Ethiopia. So I was separated [from] them. I was with mycousin; he was 11 years old at the time.
Q: How long did it take for you and your cousin to getfrom Sudan to Ethiopia?
Adier: It took us about three months to go there because
we had to cross a desert and then from there, we went tothe border, which took us a long time because it was ajungle. It was almost 3,000 miles to go to Ethiopia so it
took us almost three months to go there.
Q: What happened when you got to Ethiopia?
Adier: When we got to Ethiopia, we crossed the Gila
River, [which] is one of the most dangerous and highly

eJournal USA 10

© AP Photo

better one day; the war is going to
be over and I will [be able] to returnback to my homeland.
And at the same time, I had
to eat what everyone was eating —either being leaves or anything. [Itried not to] think about my parents
because the minute [I would] dothat, I would lose hope. [I was] justhoping that I will make it. That’s
what makes [hope] alive. Just pray
— things like that.

Deng was one of Sudan’s “Lost Boys,” the more than 27,000 Southern Sudanese boys who were drivenout of their homes during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005). Shown here in 1989, displaced
Southern Sudanese live in a camp outside of the war zone in order to escape the violence.

infested rivers in Ethiopia. And I would say maybe in
Africa, at large. A lot of our guys lost their lives in thewaters, either eaten by crocodiles or drowned. We had tocross that river [to get to] Ethiopia. And then we just had
to settle down there and build our own huts by ourselves.
At the time, there was no U.N. [United Nations]. There
was no one around. We were in the jungle. And we are faraway from the cities in Ethiopia — that really [made] it alittle difficult for us.
Q: What happened after you were in Ethiopia?
Adier: A war broke out in Ethiopia and then no one
wanted us to be there. So we were actually chased backat gunpoint to Sudan and we had to cross the same
river again. This time, we were heading to Kenya. This
was about 2,000 miles from where we were at the river.
[Going] from Sudan to Ethiopia and then to Kenya took
almost a year.
Q: How did you survive?
Adier: Basically, it was through my cousin and also thefaith that I [had] and the hope. Those were the ones that
I was relying on. I was still hoping that things would get

Q: What happened when you
arrived in Kenya?
Adier: We started living in Kenya by
the border [with Ethiopia], a placecalled Lokichoggio. Then we weretaken to the northern side of Kenya.
There were no buildings. There was
no water, just dry land. We [were]
now in a place called Kakuma
Refugee Camp. [Eventually] the
Red Cross and UNICEF [United
Nations Children’s Fund] started
to bring in some supplies, books,
pencils, some things like that.

Q: What was life like in the refugee camp?
Adier: When I arrived in the refugee camp I was turning
five years old. The life [in the camp] was not good. It was
terrible. In the camp, we didn’t have enough [for] basic
needs. At the same time, we wanted to go to school. [But]if you don’t have anything to eat, there’s no way that you
can go to school. And there was a lot of sickness. Basicallyall of the life was not good in the refugee camp and I wasin the camp for nine and a half years.
Q: Where did you want to resettle?
Adier: I wanted to go to the U.S. That was the best placepossible. I wanted to come to America so that I can go
to school and someday contribute to the peace process in
Sudan.
Q: When did you and your cousin leave Kenya for theUnited States.?
Adier: It was in November 2000 and I was turning 15.
Q: Who sponsored you?
Adier: I was sponsored by Bethany Christian Services inGrand Rapids, Michigan. They located a foster family [foreJournal USA 11

me and] I stayed with them until I turned 18. They werereally good. They were like parents.
Q: Describe your arrival in the United States.
Adier: It was wintertime and I [hadn’t] [experienced]
winter before. I’m talking about snow. It was real cold.
They were holding my name on a board, I came out andthen I saw my name and I came to them and I introduced
myself and I was the right person that they were waiting
for and they had a big jacket and some other clothes towear. I had to put those on and we went to the car andthen we went home. I was real excited to meet them.
Q: How was it adjusting to life in the United States?
Adier: It was really difficult to get adjusted. Basically, theculture is different. [I had] culture shock. I had to getused to American food, to the winters, and going to newschools. When I arrived I could understand English but I[could not] really speak it. So it was a difficult time for me
to really put all of this together.
Q: How did you finally get more adjusted to your newlife?
Adier: Well, it started with being able to settle down. Just
being able to find your niche and what you want to do
and getting advice. There were Bethany Christian Services
programs, meetings and playing some sports and things
like that. [I got] friends, it was a good experience. But at
the same time, yeah, you have to have in mind why — thereason that brought you to America. And certainly, those
are the reasons that would keep you going.
Q: And what did you want to do?
Adier: Basically, what I wanted to do was to finish
education. That was number one — that was my priority.
Number two was to work at an organization that helps
people from Third World countries. Or if I don’t findsomething like that, then I will have to found one myself.
Q: After so many years of being on the run, how did it
feel to finally have a stable home?
Adier: It feels good. The security is good over here. At thesame time, you still have that feeling that…you want todo something [for] the place that you left. I still feel that I
have to work harder. I have to help in some way.
Q: What was high school like?
Adier: High school was really good — it was great. I[loved] it.

instruction, the teachers, were really, really good. I [loved]
playing with kids, going to classes and going out. Life wasgood. It was really good.
Q: What did you do after high school?
Adier: After high school, I went to college. I went to
Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. I finished
my bachelor’s degree in 2007. After that, I studiedbusiness at John F. Kennedy University and I finished my
MBA in 2008.
Q: What are you doing now?
Adier: Now, I’m in law school at Concord Law School.
And that feels good. Law school is not simple. It is
expensive and takes time. But it’s going well so far.
Q: While you are in law school you are also working.
Where do you work?
Adier: I’m working at the Diocese of Kansas City–St.
Joseph and I’m Human Rights Officer. I find jobs
for refugees. Given the kind of situation [economic
recession] that we’re in now, finding a job is a big deal for
immigrants. I like what I’m doing. And definitely, it’s thekind of things that I had been through since I came toAmerica. And I have the motivation. I like what I do.
Q: How do you think your background as a refugee hashelped you in your job now?
Adier: It has helped me a lot because basically, I findmyself wearing two lenses. One is being a refugee — I
have been in your shoes, I’ve been there. And anotherthing is being an American. So you have to put these twothings together so that you can deliver a good [service].
And at the same time, you have to have some strategic
vision to do good things.
[I] know exactly what to do because my mind just
flashes back. [For example], if a client called me and said,“Hey, I’m supposed to be going to work today and I don’t
have a ride,” my mind would flash back. I was that person
not long ago and I know how they feel.
Q: Do you feel at home in the United States?
Adier: Where you are is basically your home. I feel athome [in the U.S.]. Here, I’m going to school. I havea job and I have my apartment. And I have a lot of
networks, a lot of friends. I know the system in the U.S.
And I know how to do my things by myself. I got used to
the American ways of doing things.

Q: What were some things that you loved about it?
Adier: Having a lot of friends and at the same time, theeJournal USA 12

Courtesy of Julie Denesha

Deng goes to law school while working as a Human Rights Officer at the Diocese of Kansas City–St. Joseph and uses his
background to help newly arrived refugees to the United States.

Q: How do you identify yourself?
Adier: (Chuckles) I’m still both [Sudanese and American].
Well, I am an American citizen so I am an American.
That’s number one. Either domestically or citizenshipwise, I am an American. Number two, I’m still a Sudanese
because I am originally from Sudan.
And I still — I’m forming both cultures — American
culture and the Sudanese culture as well. That’s a part ofthe culture that’s not going to go away. So I have these
two things still going on, running on. I still speak mylanguage, which is good. And I’m now talking in English,
which is really another good thing. So I’m in two worlds.
But again, I am in America. It’s good keeping youridentity. At the same time, you don’t need to reject a new
system that you [are] introduced into.

Adier: I think, the thing that you have to remember ismake sure you don’t lose your vision. And those werethe visions, the objectives that I set aside for myself. It
was harder going there. But at the same time, the waythat I’ve done it is to make sure you’re studying how toachieve things. You have to plan, then you have to prepare
yourself for it, and then you have to proceed without
being instructed by other actors in the environment orin the community. So those are the ways to approachingit and that’s how I approached them: not [to] lose yourvision. And then you have to know how to go about it. A
lot of people don’t share those kind of visions or get lost
somehow on the way. But again, it’s a personal way of
doing things. n

Q: How did you feel on the day you became a citizen?
Adier: I felt really good. I was happy to do it. I had stayed
here for a long time and it was time to become a citizen.
So [embracing] my new culture and my new country was
really good. And I wanted to do that.

To hear excerpts from Adier’s interview, please visit
http://www.america.gov/refugees.html
The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views orpolicies of the U.S. government.

Q: How did you achieve so much in such a short time?

eJournal USA 13

Personal Accounts

Courtesy of Jay Capers

Afghan-American Helps Cuban Family Achieve
Homeownership, Economic Security
in the United States

Courtesy of Jay Capers

Rogelio Espinosa (front) poses with (from left to right) his daughter, Yaniuris;
wife, Yaneisy Sosa; son, Osvaldo; mother, Margarita Cepero; brother-in-law,
Daniel Hernandez; and niece, Chanaya Hernandez, in their Rochester, NewYork home. The family settled in Rochester from Cuba in 2005.
By Rogelio EspinosaTranslated from Spanish by the U.S. Department of StateThe Espinosa FamilyMy name is Rogelio Espinosa. My family and
I are political refugees from the Municipality
of Florida in Camagüey Province, Cuba. I
will start by telling you why we came to this wonderfulcountry, which welcomed us with open arms. My
father, Rogelio A. Espinosa Romo, was imprisoned in aconcentration camp, which the Communist Governmentof Cuba calls the Youth Labor Army [Ejército Juvenil delTrabajo], but is nothing more than a prison for people
who oppose the system.
Our entire family of 10 arrived in Miami, Florida, in
September 2005. We spent one day there taking care ofpaperwork and other things, and the next day we left for
Rochester, New York. When we got there, Mr. Ali Nadir
was waiting for us. He introduced himself very formally

As an outreach worker with the CFC, Ali Nadir helped many refugees
adapt to their new lives.

Ali NadirI

have worked with refugees and incoming immigrants
to the United States since my childhood. As the sonof an immigrant from Kabul, Afghanistan, I spentmuch of my youth assisting other Afghan families that
had fled to the United States to escape the war during
the 1980s. My family’s home in upstate New York served
as a transition house for countless Afghan families andindividuals seeking to escape the conflict and avoid
persecution in their home country. Our dinner table,
bedrooms, and basement were all frequently shared withthose seeking to find a better life for themselves and theireJournal USA 14

Espinosa continued

Nadir continued

and explained that he had been selected by the Catholic
Family Center (CFC), the organization that deals with
political refugee cases, because he speaks our language,
Spanish. After that we had a very pleasant and friendly
conversation. We had been worried about our arrival toa country so completely different from our own. Mr.
Nadir took us to our temporary home. The apartments
were already set up with beds, food and everything that
we would need for the time we stayed there. Little bylittle, he explained how things work in this country andwhat the CFC would do for us so that we could begin
the settlement process, which is very difficult for elderly
people like my mother, father and grandmother, whohave lived almost their entire lives in Cuba. The CFC,
along with our new caseworker Ali Nadir, took careof processing all of our official paperwork. They alsofamiliarized us with the relevant social institutions so we
could understand U.S. laws, particularly New York State
laws, and get all of our refugee benefits. Mr. Ali Nadiralso took us to all of our medical and other appointments
and showed us how to become independent andwork with the system. Everything was new for us andcompletely different from where we come from.
I should mention that the CFC also provided freeEnglish classes and courses on how to establish good
credit so we could better adapt to life in the United States
Mr. Ali Nadir explained the Match Grant program, which
would provide us with money under the condition that
we would start working as soon as possible in the UnitedStates. He also explained the importance of holding astable job in this country and how to save money andpay bills. Without his help and generosity we would
not have been able to get settled, feel secure and attain
the American dream. Thanks to all of his advice andguidance, which we still follow today, we have good credit
and we bought a house, which is going wonderfully.
Homeownership is one of the most important thingsin this country and now my family and I are a part ofthat. We would not have been able to achieve this dreamwithout his help.
I should also mention that the CFC helped us tofind work, which is very difficult for people who don’t
speak the [English] language. They showed us the steps
for applying for different types of jobs, which is very
important because we had no idea about that.
I would like to say that, in general, the assistance,
trust, and professionalism of Mr. Ali Nadir and the CFC
were so helpful for me and my family. I am completely

children in America. What always amazed me about thefamilies was how quickly they learned English, began
working, and assimilated into their local communities
and places of worship in the United States.
After years of helping members of other families
commence their new lives in America, when I was 13
years old, we finally welcomed part of our own family
into the country. After spending several years taking
refuge in Pakistan to escape the war, my own aunt anduncle, along with their five children, made their way to
America. Much as we had done for previous families,
we helped them find housing, begin school and English
classes, and obtain gainful employment. Sixteen years
later, my cousins are successful mothers, PhD students
and engineers living healthy and productive lives in the
United States.
After graduating from college, I decided to build
upon my childhood experiences and once again assist
refugees coming to the United States. Upon returning to
my home city of Rochester, New York, I discovered the
Catholic Family Center Refugee Resettlement agency(CFC). Everything about the agency amazed me — thediverse range of refugees it assisted, the scope of services it
provided, and the strong relationships the agency and its
employees formed with their clients. Most importantly,
I saw the positive and tangible impact that CFC and its
employees had on people’s lives.
When the CFC hired me as an Outreach Worker,
one of my first cases was the Espinosa family from Cuba.
The Espinosas, 10 in all, were originally approved forrefugee status because of the past imprisonment andsubsequent work-camp interment of Rogelio A. Espinosa
Romo, the patriarch of the family, by Fidel Castro’s
government. Not only was the family one of my first
CFC cases, it was also one of the largest I worked withduring my time at the agency.
The size of the family, of six adults and four children,
presented unique challenges. CFC’s standard resettlement
process included providing furnished housing, accessto social and health services, seasonal clothing andhousehold items, support with child school enrollment,
assistance with the immigration and legal adjustment
process, and employment placement. With a family of
10, however, routine appointments such as applying forSocial Security cards or getting tuberculosis vaccinations
proved to be formidable tasks.
Despite the delays and setbacks that sometimes
accompanied the resettlement process, the Espinosa

eJournal USA 15

Nadir continued

Courtesy of Jay Capers

Espinosa continued

Rogelio stands outside of his home. The family worked hard to save moneyand earn good credit in order to buy the house.

certain that without their help we wouldn’t be where weare today, completely integrated into the society and thesystem. We continue to follow Ali’s advice, which wasvery professional and educational. Even at his young
age he had much experience. Without this we would
not have reached our goal. After almost five years in the
United States, he still keeps in touch with us to see how
the family is doing and how things are going for us. My
family and I, and friends in the same situation as us, havenever had any personal or professional problem with Ali
or the CFC.
These organizations and people should never stop
doing what they are doing. Many people from aroundthe world come here under the same circumstances as
my family and me. It is nice to know that professionals
like Mr. Ali Nadir and government [sic] institutions
like the CFC will take care of you and give you all of
their unconditional support to make your stay and yoursettlement in the United States the best and most positive
experience possible.
Thank you to the U.S. Government, through the
Catholic Family Center and especially to Mr. Ali Nadir,for all of the sincere, professional, and unconditional
support. We will be forever grateful for everything you
have done for our family. nfamily consistently demonstrated patience, perseverance
and determination to succeed in their new life in the
United States. With the help of the CFC, within six
months the family achieved complete self-sufficiency andsuccessfully adjusted to a life in the United States. Thoseable to work were successfully employed and financiallyindependent, the children were enrolled in school andwere gradually learning English, and the family evenmanaged to purchase their first car.
Perhaps the most amazing aspect of the Espinosas’
resettlement in the United States was not their own
success, but how fast they incorporated themselves into
the community of established immigrants in Rochesterand began regularly to help other incoming refugees. In
order to provide the maximum assistance possible, theCFC cooperates with a network of volunteers, religious
groups and the local diaspora in the Rochester area. The
Espinosas quickly became part of that local network.
They frequently welcomed other new Cuban families
to Rochester, selflessly providing home-cooked meals,
temporary lodging and assistance with transportation.
The Espinosas were intent on returning the same measureof kindness and generosity that was shown to them when
they were new arrivals.
Today, less than four years after arriving in the
United States, the Espinosa family is a perfect example of
how the resettlement process is supposed to work. With
the support provided by the CFC during their first few
months in the United States, they now own their own
home, are financially independent and have fully adjusted
to life in the United States. Their children, now fluent inEnglish, excel in school, and will have the opportunity toattend college if they choose. Like many of the Afghanfamilies I met as a child, they were welcomed to theUnited States with the chance for a new life, and they
have taken full advantage of the opportunity. n

The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views orpolicies of the U.S. government.

The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views orpolicies of the U.S. government.

eJournal USA 16

Photo Gallery

Famous (and Not-So-Famous) Refugees
Making a Difference© AP Photo

Albert Einstein
One of the world’s greatest
scientific minds, Einstein won
prestige and acclaim for his
discoveries, including the theoryof relativity. In 1921, Einstein
won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
In the 1930s, when the Nazis
came to power in Einstein’s
home country of Germany,
Einstein faced anti-Semitism
and persecution and fled to theUnited States, taking a teachingposition at Princeton University.
Einstein lobbied vigorously forthe protection of German Jews
and remained in the UnitedStates until his death in 1955.

Loung Ung
In 1975, when Ung was five years old, the Khmer Rouge overthrew theCambodian government. Ung and her family were forced to leave their homein the capital, Phnom Penh, on a death march through Cambodia. Ung wastrained as a child soldier by the Khmer Rouge but managed to escape thecountry with some relatives and went to a refugee camp in Thailand. Ung waslater resettled to the United States and after college she became an author
and activist for human rights in Cambodia. Ung is also a spokesperson for the
USA Campaign for a Landmine Free World.

© AP Photo/Ron Schwane

Refugees often face challenges when resettling in a new country, but many are able to overcome
these obstacles. Here are some notable examples of famous (and not-so-famous) refugees who
resettled in the United States, went on to achieve success and have made a difference in theirlocal communities and beyond.
eJournal USA 17

Courtesy of David Morse, www.david-morse.com

Gabriel Bol Deng (center), Garang
Mayuol (right) and Koor Garang(left)
As young children in 1987, Deng, Mayuol and Garang
were forced to leave their homes in South Sudan
during the Second Sudanese Civil War (1983-2005).
Part of the “Lost Boys” — the more than 27,000
South Sudanese boys who were displaced — thethree fled to a refugee camp in Ethiopia. From there
they went to a camp in Kenya and arrived in the
United States in 2001. Individually the three haveraised money to help bring better healthcare andeducation to villages in South Sudan. In 2007 they
returned to South Sudan as part of a documentaryfilm, Rebuilding Hope.

Gloria Estefan© AP Photo/David J. Phillip

As a baby, Estefan and her family fled
Cuba following the Cuban Revolution
and resettled in Miami. Estefan went
on to become a successful singer withmore than 90 million albums soldworldwide. She has won five Grammy
Awards and is referred to as the“Queen of Latin Pop.”© AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

Wyclef JeaneJournal USA 18

At the age of nine, Jean and his family fled
Haiti for the United States, eventually settlingin New Jersey. Jean was a member of the
Fugees (taken from the word “refugees”), a
popular and critically acclaimed hip hop group.
Jean has since gone on to have a successful
solo music career and is an advocate fordevelopment in Haiti.

Roberto Suarez
At the age of 33, Suarez left his native Cuba
after Fidel Castro seized power and came to theUnited States He worked in the mailroom of
the newspaper, the Miami Herald, for minimum
wage. He rose through the ranks to eventually
become the president of the Miami Herald andwent on to found the Spanish-language paper, El
Nuevo Herald. Suarez was an active voice in South
Florida’s Hispanic community as well as in the fieldof journalism.

© AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Courtesy of Jeep Hunter, The Charlotte Observer© Jason Kempin/Wire Image

Anh “Joseph” Cao
Cao was born in Vietnam in 1967. His father was an officer in the South
Vietnamese Army and was imprisoned by the North Vietnamese. In
1975, Cao and two of his siblings escaped to the United States andsettled in New Orleans. After college Cao became an advocate forrefugees, eventually earning a law degree. In 2008, he was elected as a U.S.
representative from Louisiana, the first Vietnamese-American elected to the
U.S. Congress.

Madeleine Korbel AlbrightBorn in what is now the Czech Republic, Albright and her family
fled to the United States in 1948 when communists took over thegovernment. The family settled in Denver, Colorado. Albright went
to Wellesley College and got involved in politics. In 1997, Albrightbecame the first female Secretary of State and the highest-ranking
woman in U.S. government at the time.

eJournal USA 19

Courtesy of The Miami Harold, 2010

Ivonne Cuesta© AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews

Courtesy of emeagwali.com

In 1980, at the age of seven, Cuesta and her family were part of
the Mariel boatlift, when 125,000 people left Cuba for Miami.
Cuesta went on to become an assistant public defender in Florida’s
Miami-Dade County. She is now under consideration to become a
Miami-Dade judge. If selected, Cuesta would become the first sitting
Miami-Dade judge from the Mariel boatlift.

Li Lu
After participating in the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations, Li left
Beijing for Hong Kong and made his way to the United States, where
he enrolled in Columbia University in New York. In 1996, Li became
the first person in the school’s history to graduate with three separate
degrees in a single day, having simultaneously earned undergraduate, lawand business degrees. Li became a successful investment banker andserves on the Reebok Human Rights Award board of advisors.

eJournal USA 20

Philip Emeagwali
Emeagwali, who grew up in Nigeria, is a member of the Ibo
ethnic group. In 1966, the Biafran Civil War erupted between
the Nigerian central government and the Ibo population in thesouth. During the war, Emeagwali spent three years in a refugee
camp. In 1974, Emeagwali came to the United States and later
graduated with degrees in Mathematics; Civil, Coastal and Marine
Engineering; and Computer Science. Emeagwali’s advances in
Computer Engineering earned him the prestigious Gordon Bell
Prize in Computer Science in 1989.

Interview“They Just Have Good Hearts”
Two Families Recount Their Pennsylvania Welcome

Courtesy of John BerryT

wo Meskhetian Turkish families
from Georgia and Uzbekistantransited through Russia and were
resettled in Pennsylvania. Arrivingin the United States in 2005
and 2006, both families received
support from the Upper Dublin
Lutheran Church in Ambler,
Pennsylvania, and from neighbors.
Ayvos and Elmira Kapitanov
came to the United States with
their children and Ayvos’s parents
and siblings, including sister
Khalida.
Sonamzhon Kapitanova
settled in the United States withher husband and four children,
including daughter Saida.

Sonamzhon Kapitanova, Saida Kapitanova, Khalida Kapitanov, Ayvos Kapitanov and Elmira Kapitanov (from left
to right). The Kapitanova and Kapitanov families are Meskhetian Turks, an ethnic group dispersed throughout
Central Asia, Russia, Ukraine and Azerbaijan.

Question: What happened
when you and your family first arrived in the U.S.?
Saida: Well, we were the first ones [from my family].
It was very difficult, very different. My parents wereconcerned because my dad had no clue where he wasgoing and we had no idea who was going to meet us on
the other side. And when we came, we had about 15
people meeting us in the airport at 3 A.M. [from] Upper
Dublin Church. That was just one of the greatest nights,
I guess.
Q: Who were some of the people who helped you when
you first arrived in the U.S.?
Ayvos: The first thing was [that] Mr. and Mrs. Renigar[two neighbors] helped us. They helped us find a houseand jobs. They helped us get all the documents.
Saida: [Upper Dublin Church] had rented a house for us.
They had food, furniture, everything you can name. [Wecould] just walk in and live. They provided everything;helped us choose schools, helped us find jobs for myparents, and all kinds of stuff. We had English lessons
every night. There [were] a lot of volunteers coming infrom all of the churches, or any other place that reallywanted to help.
Q: What were some of the hardest things to get adjusted
to when you came to the U.S.?
Khalida: Mainly, it was the language and the school.
It was the classes. They were kind of different. And thelanguage; it was hard to talk and comprehend. [I overcamethis] by studying English more and doing my best.
Sonamzhon: It was [hard at first]. It was hard to speak
English. Now, we are happy in America, very happy.
Q: How have you adjusted to your home in the U.S.?
Elmira: I like the United States and I like to live here.
People always smile and I can work and study in college.
I’m a gardener and I take classes like ESL [English as a
Second Language], reading and mathematics.
Q: What do you think of your new home in Pennsylvania?
Ayvos: It’s pretty good. It’s a good area, not too many
people and cars and it’s clean. It’s fresh and I like it.

eJournal USA 21

were like, wow, a cop knocking on our door and saying“Welcome,” you know?

Courtesy of John Berry

Q: Were there other examples like that, where random
people, strangers came up and helped you or said hello to
your family?
Saida: Yeah, we had a lot of nice neighbors. Our landlord
was very nice, helped us a lot with furniture and stuff, andpeople in schools, mostly Upper Dublin Lutheran Church[helped us]. We had a lot of people volunteer and comein. That was really exciting and we were very surprised
about [the]...open hearts, [people] want to help. It doesn’t
matter if they’re rich, if they’re poor, if — whatever. They
just have good hearts. They just want to help you. It
doesn’t — they don’t have any bad feelings towards you,
you know?

Saida Kapitanova (left) and her mother, Sonamzhon. Saida was surprised
when a police officer came to their home to welcome them to thecommunity.

Q: What is your school like?
Khalida: I’m in middle school. It’s a good school and
I am in all honors classes. [The students are] friendly.
They helped me a lot — (chuckles) — with my English,
especially some of the friends that I met in sixth grade.
Q: Before you came to the U.S. what was your image ofAmerica?
Sonamzhon: Like American movies, too glamorous. [Butreality] is much different.
[Editor’s Note: For more on this theme, see the book
Pop Culture versus Real America, available at http://www.
america.gov/publications/books-content/pop-culture-vs-realamerica.html]

Q: How do you describe yourself? Do you see yourself as
an American? As a Turk?
Elmira: I feel like [I am] American-Turkish. [In the U.S.]
I can be American and keep my traditions. We celebrate
Turkish holidays and we cook American, Russian andTurkish food.
Khalida: As years pass, I feel more American. [I feel that Iam] fitting in. And I still have my [Turkish] culture.
Q: You have been in the U.S. for five years. How do you
think you’ve changed in those five years?
Saida: A lot. I became more Americanized. I got mydriver’s license. That was exciting.
Q: What are some of the things that you want to achieve?
What do you want to be when you grow up?
Khalida: I would like to finish high school and take some
psychology classes. That’s pretty much it. Go to college,
become a psychologist if I can.
Saida: [Now I am in] a primary college, studying businessand accounting. I love college. As soon as I graduate,
I would like to enroll in university, as soon as I get myassociate’s degree. n
The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views orpolicies of the U.S. government.

Q: What was something that surprised you about theU.S.?
Saida: [It was] meeting a policeman for the first time —like, at our door, on the second day. We were shocked. We
eJournal USA 22

Personal Accounts

Courtesy of Javier Barrera

Iraqi Veterinarian’s Spirit, Persistence Inspire
American Volunteer

In February 2009, Mohammed Yousuf (left) came with his family from Iraq to the United States where he
met Andrew Masloski (right), a volunteer with the International Rescue Committee..

Mohammed Yousuf

Andrew MasloskiIW

n 2003, I and indeed all Iraqis hoped that the war
would end as soon as possible, that Saddam Husseinwould fall from power, and that the Iraqi people
would enjoy a life free from war, killing and destruction.
In May 2003, I and dozens of other Iraqis who speak
English started working as translators with U.S. forces.
This was one of the few jobs available after the war. I wasproud of my work because I helped communicate theproblems and concerns of Iraqis to the U.S. military andthe military worked to resolve many of these problems.
I then served as a translator with the U.S. Embassy in
Baghdad and was the intermediary between the Iraqis andembassy officials through translation.
I continued work at the embassy until the end of
2004 when armed militia started attacking U.S. troops
and those who worked with them. Many translators
were killed, including some of my colleagues. I thenstarted working with the BBC (British Broadcasting
Corporation) in Baghdad until July 2007. I had to leave
my beloved Iraq after I received a death threat. I traveled

hen I first decided to volunteer with theInternational Rescue Committee (IRC) in2008, I was inspired by the stories I had readin newspapers about people and families fleeing conflictand persecution for a better life in the U.S. I imaginedthat helping recently arrived refugees to resettle here
would be both easy and rewarding. I thought that thework would be straightforward; I thought that I would
be able to impart my knowledge of living in the U.S. asa bona fide, born-and-bred American. I thought that thepeople I would work with would simply ask me questions
and I would have all the answers. I imagined that helpinga refugee family settle in the U.S. and acclimate to lifein America would be like helping a student to pass a test
that I had aced a long time ago and without much effort.
Only later did I realize how little I understood what I was
about to do, and how much I would learn from those
who were supposed to be learning from me.
I met Mohammed and his family one day in Marchof 2009. Before we met I had received an email from theeJournal USA 23

Masloski continued

Courtesy of Paul W. Gillespie www.pwgphoto.com

with my family to Syria and stayed there for more thana year and a half waiting for resettlement in the UnitedStates.
In February 2009 my wife, our four children (threeboys and a girl) and I traveled to the United States tobegin a new chapter in our lives. Everything here was
new to us and it was hard to get used to even the simplest
things such as riding the bus and the metro and booking
appointments with doctors. Because I speak English it
has been easier for me to understand and interact with
Americans than it has been for some other Iraqi refugees
who don’t know English. I help these refugees withtranslation when they need it. My family and I faced
many challenges in adjusting to our new lives; but theimportant thing is that we felt secure in the United States.
In America we have received some assistance fromthe International Rescue Committee (IRC), but the realassistance was from friends and volunteers who helped
us a lot by explaining things to us and answering ourquestions. One IRC volunteer, Andrew Masloski, helped
us in the first days of our arrival. He became a closefriend and still, to this day, helps me and my family.
Andy was one of the first Americans we met when wearrived. He supported us by giving us information on
many things like finding doctors. Andy and some friends
helped me and my family move to our new apartment.
He also helped me to write my resume. When I need toknow anything, I ask Andy and he helps me to find theright answer. Sometimes I ask him questions from otherIraqi refugees and he helps me with that as well.
In the early days of resettlement, refugees needcorrect information to be able to integrate into the newsociety and Andy and other volunteers help us withmany matters such as writing resumes, searching for jobs,

Courtesy of Paul W. Gillespie www.pwgphoto.com

Yousuf continued(Left) Yousuf ’s sons Abdullah Yahya, 5, Haider Yahya, 7, and Ahmed Yahya, 11,(front, left to right) and Mohammed Yousuf, daughter Rahaf Yahya, 2, andwife Susan Mohammed (back, left to right), outside their Maryland home.
(Top) Yousuf and his wife, Susan, proudly show the green card that recently
arrived for their daughter, Rahaf, (not pictured). Yousuf is hopeful that hischildren will have good lives in the U.S.

IRC containing little more than the names of his family
members and their address in a suburb of Washington,
D.C. We spent our first meeting getting to know one
another. Though I was a complete stranger to the family,
they received me with great generosity, offering me juice
and pieces of fruit. After I was introduced to everyone,
it was my turn to talk. I had already determined in mymind all of the things that Mohammed would want andneed to do. He needed an American-style resume; hehad to think about getting a driver’s license; he needed
to know how to look for jobs online. All of these things
seemed like obvious first steps to me.
And so I wasn’t prepared when one of the first things
Mohammed asked me about was how to find local
surgeons who would accept the Medicaid insurance that
newly arrived refugees in Maryland receive. There was an
Iraqi woman Mohammed had met in the United States
who was resettled in the same D.C. suburb and had been
living with a bullet lodged in her body from before she
had left Iraq. He wanted to know how I could help him
to help her.
I quickly learned that my idea of the anxieties,
concerns and worries of a refugee arriving in the U.S.
for the first time were far from the full picture. Of
course Mohammed was concerned for his own family;

eJournal USA 24

Yousuf continued

Masloski continued

pointing out good places to shop to reduce expenses andhelping us know other new things that make our lives
easier. Volunteers and friends have helped my family andhave given us a lot of moral support.
When I got to America I had a dream that I would
have a good job with a good income and that I could
support my family. Although I knocked on all doors
looking for work I have not yet found a suitable job. The
only work I found was as a volunteer helping refugees
from Iraq and other nations, but this work was without
wages. For now my family’s only income is Food Stamps
and a cash stipend from the government.
I thought that the IRC would pay our rent forthree or four months, as well as provide some material
assistance. But they paid only one month. Thankfully,
some of our new American friends helped us. With theirsupport we were able to rent a smaller apartment that ismore affordable. Without their help, I would not be able
to rent this apartment.
Other refugees and I do not want to depend on
government aid; we want to work to get an income to
be able to give our families a decent life. Suitable work is
the solution to problems facing resettled refugees. Even
those refugees who do not know English well will be able
to improve their language through close contact withEnglish speakers at work.
The International Organization for Migration(IOM), the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR) and the U.S. government have helped
thousands of refugees resettle in the United States The
next step is to find suitable work to help my family andother refugees better integrate into American society.
Most Iraqi refugees have university degrees, haveexperience in various fields and we want to put our skills
to good use. Other refugees and I want to be productive
and engaged members of U.S. society and I hope that thiswill happen.
While finding work has been difficult, I think thatmy children will have opportunities. The education here
in the United States is the best. One of my children is in
the first grade and he can read and write English because
he is in a good school. He has wonderful teachers andthey take good care of him. I think that my children will
get a good education and that they will have good lives in
America. n

he worried about getting a job and providing for his wifeand kids. Certainly he was interested in resuming his
career as a veterinarian — a career he had to abandon
after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. But for Mohammed,
it was just as important to help other people in need ofassistance as it was to help his own family.
Aside from Mohammed’s generosity of spirit andhis willingness and desire to help others, his ability toremain hopeful about the future never ceases to amaze
me. In addition to coming to the U.S. from a war-torncountry where he feared for his life, Mohammed had theill fortune to arrive here at a time when many Americans
were struggling to find jobs during a deep economic
recession. The resources available to refugees were
designed under the assumption that refugees would findemployment and become economically self-sufficient in amatter of months. While it is never easy to come to a new
country, find a job, begin to build one’s life again, thisprocess was all the more difficult during the economic
downturn. Despite this, Mohammed remains optimistic
and focused on a better future for himself and his family.
When I volunteered to work with recently arrived
refugees I assumed they would simply articulate theirneeds and that my job would be to supply them withwhatever information or assistance they needed. I
expected that, in a few months, the people I worked
with would be comfortably settled and employed. I also
expected to feel a distinct sense of accomplishment.
Instead, my relationship with Mohammed and his family
has extended beyond just a few months. Instead, progresson basic issues like finding Mohammed a job remains
steady but incomplete. Instead, I feel a distinct senseof gratitude for the friendship that has grown between
Mohammed and myself, and a deep sense of appreciation
for the bravery and courage of people like Mohammed
and his family. n

Editors’ note: For more information on the U.S.
Refugee Assistance program in Iraq, visit the U.S.
Embassy’s website at http://iraq.usembassy.gov/
refugeeidpaffairs.html
The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views orpolicies of the U.S. government.

The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views orpolicies of the U.S. government.

eJournal USA 25

Interview

Courtesy of Mike Fender

Refugee’s 10-Year Odyssey Takes Himfrom Danger, Despair to New
Life As Proud Caregiver

Pictured here with a co-worker, Janvier Tuyishime works as a home health aide with United Home Healthcare and saysthat having a job “[helped] rebuild my life in the U.S.”

Janvier Tuyishime fled his home in Rwanda and began ajourney that took him to West Africa and to Belgium before
arriving in the United States in 2009. Janvier discusses his
ten-year journey, which included homelessness and four years
in a refugee camp, and his new life in the United States.
The transcript below combines an interview with Janvier
along with text from his emails.
Question: When did you leave Rwanda?
Janvier: I left Rwanda in 1999.
Q: Why did you leave Rwanda?
Janvier: After the genocide in 1994, extremist Hutus fled
to the DRC [Democratic Republic of Congo]. In 1994,
the genocidaires destroyed my house but then I rebuilt it.

In 1999, the Hutu genocidaires came back to kill more
Tutsis in Rwanda. They came to my house. They forced
the doors open of my house, but I jumped through awindow and ran away in order to save my life. I left bymyself and escaped to Kigali. I never went back.
Q: Where did you go?
Janvier: I went from Kigali to Togo and then went toBelgium. I was in Togo for one year and I was hidden
by Togolese friends. I was in Belgium for one month. In
Belgium I stayed in a center for illegal immigrants andrefugees but I was deported from Belgium.
Q: How did you feel when you were deported?
Janvier: Oh, I felt very, very, very, very, very bad and verysad. It is difficult to describe this situation.

eJournal USA 26

water was not good to drink and the soil was poor, so
we couldn’t farm and we couldn’t get much to eat. The
food that they gave us was not enough and we werevery hungry. There was infection and disease. There wasdespair and the trauma was too high. There were snakes
and scorpions that bit people and many more miseries. I
lost hope. It is a long and bad story.

Q: What is your first memory of life in the United States?
Janvier: It was euphoria. I felt very very happy to be here.
I was very most happy.
Q: What did you do after the airport?
Janvier: They brought me to my new residence and they
showed me my house. Immediately they led me to thestore to buy food.

Q: Where did you want to go?
Janvier: I liked America and I wanted to go there.
America is the land of opportunity and it is the land torestart life and to be free. The nation is very, very greatand in America there are many possibilities to regain life
eJournal USA 27

Courtesy of Mike Fender

Q: How long were you in Togo and what
happened there?
Janvier: I was in Togo for 9 days. WhenI arrived in Togo the gendarmerie [police]
arrested me and sent me to prison. They said
that I was not a legal immigrant and I was in
jail for 9 days.
I was tortured and I slept on the floor
in a cell with many people. There was notenough room to lie down to sleep. There
were many mosquitoes and when it was
raining the rain would come through thewindow. I could not take a shower and I was
not allowed to use a toilet. There was just abucket and no toilet paper. It was very, very
bad. Sometimes the guards slapped me and I
Tuyishime escaped ethnic violence in his home country, Rwanda, in 1999 at the age of 33 andhad some sort of disease on my skin.
now lives in Indianapolis, Indiana.
I was only given a little bit of food,just once a day. I was very weak and theand to rebuild. The people in America are very good,gendarmerie [police] said that they did not want to takegenerous and welcoming. I knew that and I liked America.
care of me anymore. I was handcuffed, put in a car, andthey took me to the border between Togo and Ghana. The Q: What was the process of coming to the United States
like?
officer gave me a paper to sign. It said that if I ever came
Janvier: I got a chance to meet the American people atback to Togo they would arrest me or deport me back to
the U.S. Embassy in Accra and the UNHCR gave them
Rwanda. I signed the paper. They took my handcuffs off
my case file in either 2007 or 2008. In two years it wasand sent me over the border to Ghana.
just interviews, medical check-up, and orientation and
Q: What happened next?
after that was departure. The people at the embassy were
Janvier: [I made my way] to the UNHCR [Unitedvery great and gave me much support.
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees] in the capital,
Q: How did you feel on the day you left for America?
Accra. I was homeless and jobless. In May 2002, theJanvier: I felt saved. I was very, very happy.
UNHCR accepted me in the transit center in Accra. In
January 2005, UNHCR moved me to the Krisan Refugee
Q: Where did you arrive? Who met you at the airport?
Camp in Ghana. I was there until March 2009.
Janvier: I arrived in Indianapolis. The local organizationthat sponsored me, Exodus Immigration, met me at the
Q: What was life like in the refugee camp?
airport. They were very fine, nice people.
Janvier: Life was very bad, there were no facilities. The

Q: How did you feel during that first day in your house?
Janvier: I felt I was in paradise.

They helped me rebuild my life. People from Exodus took
me to medical and job appointments and driving school.

Q: Did you know any English before you came to the
U.S.? Did you have a French translator from Exodus?
Janvier: I knew only a little bit of English. There wassomeone who spoke French but he used simple English
and we tried to understand each other. He made the effort
to talk to me and I made the effort to hear from him, so it
was not difficult to understand him. Immediately, Exodus
took me to English classes. The teachers were experienced,
active, and they were good educators.

Q: How do you feel about your life in Indianapolis?
Janvier: I like it very much. It is very sweet. I am very
happy. I like American energy, I like people and I like theculture. I like everything in America.

Q: Did Exodus help you to find a job?
Janvier: Yes, I was working within one month. I worked asa landscaper at a company.
Q: What were some difficulties that you faced?
Janvier: The difficulties were just about the language. The
little bit of English that I knew in Africa is different thanin the U.S. I had accent and pronunciation problems.
Some people talked very fast and to follow them was noteasy. I didn’t meet any problems with the culture, though,because I am very flexible.
Q: How do you feel about your life now compared towhen you first arrived?
Janvier: The difference is now I’m getting some maturity.
When I first arrived in America I was new and it is now
that I feel that I have rebuilt my life. I was someone when
I arrived in America but I feel more someone today. I’m
feeling an active part of the nation. I feel brotherhood withthe people. I feel that this is my home.
Q: Why do you think that you were able to make thistransition and feel a part of America?
Janvier: People greeted me, helped me and I was able
to acquire the social life. Americans integrated me into
American society. There were very good people who helped
me. I was able to get a job and get a Home Health Aidecertification because of my skills and because people helped
me. I’m feeling very, very, very happy.

Q: What is your job?
Janvier: My new job is I am a home health aide. I workfor United Home Healthcare. I help patients. I like myjob very much. I have Certified Nursing Assistant [CNA]
certification and a Home Health Aide certification. The
staff at United Home Healthcare is very nice. They havea very great humanitarian character. When I applied toUnited Home Healthcare, through the interview about mylife as a newcomer to the U.S., they felt concerned. They
wanted to see me starting fast the job in order to rebuild
my life in the U.S. And…they were very pleased with thequality of my work and the service I provide to the client.
Because of the great job I am doing, the staff supported
me and I passed a test and earned another certificate
we call “Home Health Aide” [HHA] issued by Indiana
State Department of Health. So, I have now two types ofcertificate: CNA and HHA. The staff is very supportive.
The staff continues to support me to go ahead. Theylooked for me [to have] the new shift where I can work
more hours earning more wage. I will work 12 hours a day,
60 hours a week! Excellent shift if I start! I like it.
Q: Do you feel that you are an American or a Rwandan?
Janvier: I feel more that I am an American. I want to stayforever in America. n
To hear excerpts from Janvier’s interview, please visit
http://www.america.gov/refugees.html
The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views orpolicies of the U.S. government.

Q: Who were some of the people who helped you? How
did they welcome you and make you feel at home?
Janvier: There were people from Exodus and some I met
at church. Some invited me to their house for dinner andfor Christmas and Thanksgiving. Some invited me to social
outings and some invited me to discover the countrysideof Indiana. Some invited me for church activities. Somevisited me in my home and some called me to talk, sentme emails and gave me gifts. They helped me get a job.
eJournal USA 28

Photo Gallery©AP Images/Dave Weaver

Helping Refugees Make a Homein the United States©AP Images/Mary Ann Chastain

In the state of Nebraska, a woman tutors a Sudanese refugee child in English. The
civil war between North and South Sudan caused millions of people to flee theirhomes and to seek refuge elsewhere.

A volunteer serves food to a Somali Bantu refugee at a Christmas dinner in South Carolina.
Volunteers host cultural events, introducing refugees to new foods and customs and helping
them feel part of their new communities. Refugees reciprocate, sharing their culture andexperiences with their new friends.

When refugees arrive in the United States they receive help from resettlement organizations,
sponsors, volunteers and neighbors. This support helps refugees begin to feel at home and torebuild their lives. Shown here are images of refugees receiving help in the United States,making new homes and thriving.
eJournal USA 29

©AP Images/The Gazette,Laurie Matanich

A volunteer accompanies an Afghan refugee to the grocery store to discuss the
products for sale. Afghan refugees began arriving in the United States after the
1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

© AP Photo/The Indianapolis Star, Robert Scheer

A community member shows a recently arrived Somali Bantu refugee how
to operate the kitchen faucet. Most Bantu refugees were rural farmers
in Somalia who fled to refugee camps in Kenya. For many refugees, using
U.S.-style household appliances and utilities is a marked change from theirprevious lives.

© AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast

At Fort Dix, New Jersey, a Kosovar refugee helps other refugees from
Kosovo use a computer and surf the Internet for refugee-related sites. In
1999, some 4,000 Kosovar refugees stayed at Fort Dix temporarily while
awaiting settlement in other parts of the U.S.
© AP Photo/Darron Cummings

Burmese refugees gather at a meeting in the state of Indiana with a staff
worker from Exodus Refugee Immigration, a resettlement organization. The
staff worker helps explain the forms they need to fill out and how to adjust
to their new lives.

eJournal USA 30

© AP Photo/Steven Senne

A refugee from Burma talks with his foster parents in their
Massachusetts home. Many Burmese refugees are ethnically
Karen and fled the Burmese military junta. Some spent
many years in refugee camps in Thailand before arriving in
the U.S.

© AP Photo/Keith Srakocic

A Catholic Charities caseworker shows two refugees
how to use the shower and bath in their family’s new apartment. The family fled
Bhutan for Nepal and was later resettled to the state of Pennsylvania. In 2008, the U.S.
offered to resettle 60,000 Bhutanese refugees and began accepting the refugees thatsame year.
A National Geographic photographer works
with students at a photo camp in the state of
Maryland. The students, Meskhetian Turk refugees,
are interested in photography and participate
in the Refugee Youth Project at Baltimore City
Community College.

©AP Images/The Free Lance-Star,
Reza A. Marvashti© AP Photo/The Baltimore Examiner, Kristine Buls

A woman in Fredericksburg, Virginia, helps refugees to the areawith many tasks, including arranging doctor’s appointments
and setting up housing. Here she helps a refugee from Liberia
apply for a driver’s license at the Virginia Department of Motor
Vehicles. Thousands of Liberian refugees fled the country’s
14-year civil war to resettle in the United States.

©AP Images/Paul Sancya

A refugee sponsor and a caseworker meet with an Iraqi refugee family. The sponsor
and the caseworker explain the forms necessary to receive medical assistance andto be eligible to work.

eJournal USA 31

Personal Accounts

Courtesy of Max Bittle

Courtesy of Max Bittle

Bhutanese Refugee, Classmates Learn English
and More on Teacher’s Town Tour

Kapil Dhungel, a refugee from Bhutan, takes a trolley with his English for
Speakers of Other Languages class on a field trip around their town ofConcord, New Hampshire.

When she was a graduate student, Johanna Young became
motivated to help refugees. Now she teaches English torecently resettled refugees in the United States.
.

Kapil Dhungel

Johanna YoungO

I

n July 29, 2009, which was just one monthand seven days after my arrival in the USA
from a Bhutanese refugee camp in Nepal, I waslearning English and discovering my new community.
I was in Johanna Young’s ESOL [English for Speakersof Other Languages] class under the generous agency
Lutheran Social Services. She taught us things that are
useful to me and the other resettled refugees. We learned
pronunciation and how to write English. Apart fromthose lessons she took the class on field trips, which werevery exciting. When I first arrived in Concord, New
Hampshire, everything was new to me and adapting wasvery challenging. Through the ESOL class and the field
trips I got familiar with my new home.
When our teacher took us on the field trips welearned many new things. For example, in Nepal the
traffic rules are quite different than here. In Bhutan, thedriver sits on the right-hand side and drives on the left
but in the United States it is the opposite. In Bhutan you
do not have to press a button in order to cross the road,you only have to go to a crosswalk, make sure there is

t is a warm summer day. I am taking my class of over
20 ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages)
students on a field trip around Concord, New
Hampshire. Adult refugees ranging in age from their early
20s to their mid-70s, pencils and papers in hand, search
for landmarks to find and check off on their vocabulary
worksheets.
The real purpose of the field trip is not just to show
them around town but to teach the class how to play
baseball. The students, primarily Bhutanese who lived
in refugee camps in Nepal for 17 or more years before
arriving in the United States, and various refugees fromAfrican countries, are game to learn a little about baseball.
Most of the women, though, hang back and let the men
have a swing. We have learned some simple vocabulary
about the game beforehand; words such as “hotdog,”“home run,” “catch” and “throw.” I explain the basic
rules, but quickly the game becomes American baseball
Bhutanese style. Some know a little about cricket, but
not about baseball. Luckily, I have a soft bat and ballbecause my students throw the ball at the batter to try toeJournal USA 32

Dhungel continued

Courtesy of Max Bittle

Young continued

Young (center) and her ESOL Class.

no traffic and walk across. On the field trip, we walked
through the town and learned how to cross the road bypressing the crosswalk button and waiting for the light tochange.
As we walked, the class, all 22 students, watched anddiscussed whatever we saw on the way. Our teacher asked
us to read the name of the new thing, and to write down
its name and location. After a few minutes we arrived at
a restaurant where we bought pizza. We came to know
new things and new food. Just after a few steps from therestaurant we found Food Basket and we learned that it
was also a shop for food.
After learning a bit about Food Basket we just walked
a few steps to the Washington Street Café. It was similar
to the tea stalls we have in Bhutan. After that we began
walking and reached, on the right-hand side, the Franklin
Pierce Law School. We asked our teacher, “What kind of
school is it?” She told us that it is a law school and that
our children could learn here in the future.
And in front of the law school was a fountain. It
was just like a park and I asked the teacher to explain
more about it and she did. There was a beautiful pond
and we found wild ducks in a flock, which was very big.
They were swimming on the pond fearlessly. According
to our teacher they were all female ducks! The ducks had
become domesticated because people were feeding thembreadcrumbs. The ducks reminded me of Bhutan because
we have the same kinds of wild ducks in Bhutan.

tag them out. Those who decide not to take a turn havea good laugh at the others up at bat. On the way back toclass, we pass a barbecue at Franklin Pierce Law School.
It becomes a teachable moment; now I can show themhotdogs cooking on the grill. One of the cooks greets us
and the students all chime in and say “hello.”
In addition to learning new vocabulary andsomething more about their community, the field trips
give the students a chance to relax, to have a good laugh,to ask questions and even to look at what people growin their gardens. For one lesson they are learning about
new flora and fauna. “Daffodil!” exclaims one student on
a visit to the White Park, pointing to the flower. “That’s
right!” I reply. “North State Street,” another student says
reading the street sign on the corner. Their eyes are wide
open, taking everything in. In 2005, at the LutheranSocial Services [LSS] World Refugee Day celebration in
Manchester, New Hampshire, a Somali Bantu refugee
said, “We are like children, learning everything new.”
Although my students are not children, many things
are new to them. I am their tour guide and as I observe
them exploring their environment, I can begin to see
what is important and valuable to them and understandbetter what makes them feel comfortable.
I have taught new Americans — refugees receiving
services from LSS — since 2005. However, my interestin the plight of refugees and refugee resettlement goesback further. In the mid 1980s, I first learned theformal definition of a refugee in a History of American
Immigration class. It was 1984 and I was pursuing mymaster’s degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakersof Other Languages) at Central Connecticut University.
In the years to come, a few words from the legal
definition lingered: that refugees fled their homes becauseof persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution.
As a graduate student I taught an ESOL class inwhich several of my students were refugees, young
Hmong villagers from semi-nomadic farming families
in the mountains of Laos. With the 1975 victory of
the communist Pathet Lao forces in the Laotian Civil
War, their lives were imperiled. They escaped across the
Mekong River to Thailand, where they lived in refugee
camps, before being resettled in the United States by
church sponsors in Manchester, Connecticut.
My history professor required that every student
conduct a primary research project on an immigrant or
refugee group in the state of Connecticut. I felt a sense of
responsibility to understand more about Laotian refugees,

Continued on page 35
eJournal USA 33

Courtesy of Max Bittle

Courtesy of Max Bittle

Courtesy of Max Bittle

Young continued

especially given my country’s involvement in Vietnamand Laos. It was no surprise, then, that my students andtheir families became my primary subject. I interviewed
them and recorded their harrowing stories of escape.
Although I was not destined to work again withrefugees until years later, I did not forget those stories offlight and survival. I continued to read news and stories
about the Hmong people and other refugee groups. In
the meantime, I moved to Manhattan, earned a master’s
degree in divinity from Union Theological Seminary, andlater moved to New Jersey and worked for the Episcopal
Diocese of Newark.
In 2005, looking to move from the city to thecountryside, my husband and I moved to Concord, New
Hampshire. Before we arrived, my sister, a journalist,
forwarded me a series of articles about refugee groups
resettled in New Hampshire by Lutheran Social Services.
I had an M.S. in Teaching English to Speakers of Other
Languages and a concern about the plight of refugees so
I applied for an ESOL teaching position with LutheranSocial Services. I was hired and started teaching adults in
March of 2005.
Since then, I have taught many refugees from many
countries, including Liberia, Somalia, the Democratic
Republic of Congo, Burundi, Iraq, Afghanistan andCroatia. My current students are primarily from Bhutan.
Right now I have 30, but at times I have had 75 students
at once. I have taught beginners, intermediate Englishlearners and college-educated students.
In all of my classes I have found that language is bestlearned by living it and by using it in the real world, by
immersing oneself in new surroundings, by making new
friendships and by becoming part of a new community.
As a teacher I take my students outside the classroom tolearn and practice English. Leading field trips is a big partof my job. We visited the local park to teach them how toplay baseball and to our State Capitol Building for a tour
and to learn about the New Hampshire state government.
On the field trips my students and I have also windowshopped in downtown Concord and visited many places.
(Top left) On the field trip, Young (center), points out interesting sitesaround town to teach new English vocabulary and to help acquaint thestudents with their new town.
(Center left) Young also teaches American culture in her ESOL class. Here,students learn how to play baseball.
(Bottom left) Young (left) and Dhungel (right) discuss the day’s events. For
Dhungel and the other students, “our field trips have become a source of
education and have helped us learn about our new homes.”eJournal USA 34

Dhungel continued

Young continued

On the field trip I also met two Americans.
They asked me, “Where are all these people going?”
I answered him we all are new to America and we arefrom an ESOL class going on a field trip. Another man
asked, “Where are you from?” and I replied, “I am from
Bhutan.” He asked, “Do you like here?” I told him, “YesI like very much.” I didn’t know these people but I felt
they were very friendly and good people.
All of the students were very excited andenthusiastic to learn about the different sites on the field
trip. One of my friends told the teacher that these kindsof field trips are very useful to us because they help
us know more about the town. He further added that
he saw many things like houses for rent and different
types of shops and restaurants, which is very important
information for us. I also feel that the field trips are very
important. Most of the students like the field trips andview them very positively.
Our field trips have become a source of educationand have helped us learn about our new homes. n

including the public radio station, the supermarket, thebookstore, an outdoor market, the bus station and the
New Hampshire Museum. On one trip to a park, I asked
volunteers from the class to document the trip so that
we could later write a story about the trip and include
photos. An intermediate student, Kapil Dhungel, wasthe reporter for the day. Another student volunteered tobe the photographer. The field trips helped the students
learn English and become accustomed to and better
integrated in their new homes.
Helping the students find a new sense of place has
been a rewarding experience. They come, often a bit
bewildered, having been uprooted more than once. At
first they are disoriented until they learn more about theirneighbors, fellow classmates and new surroundings — andas more established Americans learn more about them. In
time, most refugees begin to feel at home. On our field
trips, sometimes they find something that connects themto the homes they have left behind. On a recent visit toa local department store, the Bhutanese students paused,their faces lit up with smiles, before a cheese store with awindow displaying a life-size replica of a cow. Many had
been farmers in Bhutan and they retain fond memoriesof their farm animals. Many are Hindu, and hold cows
sacred. On a field trip to a nearby park last summer, one
student found the same kind of grass she had used tomake medicine back in the refugee camp in Nepal. In aclothing store, one Bhutanese gentleman pointed out thekind of cloth they used to make saris. Residents stopped
to wave and smile and ask questions about the new
Americans. Finding things around their new town thatwere similar to old homes and meeting other Americans
help the students adjust to their new lives.
It is not only mastering practical matters like getting
connected to services, filling out forms and the likethat makes the refugees I work with more comfortablein their new lives. More important are the ties they
develop to their environment and to other members of
their new American communities that help them thrive,
despite a sense of loss and longing for the worlds they haveleft behind. What little I can do to help them is a gift notjust for them, but for me. My new American friends help
connect me to my own world and to see it with new eyes. n

Courtesy of Max Bittle

The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views orpolicies of the U.S. government.

Kapil Dhungel.

The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views orpolicies of the U.S. government.

eJournal USA 35

Interview

Courtesy of Ken White

Former Child Refugee Now Helps Advance
U.S. Refugee Protection Policy

With a doctorate in Applied Anthropology, Hoa Tran worked on
refugee and immigration issues for 20 years. Since 2004, Tran has
worked on refugee policy at the U.S. Department of State.

Hoa Tran left Vietnam as a young child in 1975 andresettled in the United States. She now works on refugee policy
at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population,
Refugees and Migration.
Question: When did you arrive to the United States?
Hoa: I arrived in November 1975 in Atlanta, Georgia,nine months after we departed Vietnam. That’s where myfamily was resettled. I was seven years old.
Q: Did you come with your entire family?
Hoa: My whole family came except for my oldest sisterand oldest brother, who stayed back in Vietnam with mygrandparents. My grandparents were in their late 80s at
the time and they basically said that they would like to diein their own country rather than take the long trek overwith us.

Q: Describe your journey from Vietnam.
Hoa: It was very chaotic, I remember that. It took
us several months to get to the U.S. We first left our
hometown, Quy Nhon, in February of 1975 and we madeit to a U.S. Navy base in Cam Ranh Bay the following
month. We departed Phu Quoc in April and then spentsome time in a couple of refugee camps at U.S. Air Forceand military bases in Guam and Wake Island before
coming to the U.S. At the time, the U.S. policy was toresettle Vietnamese refugees to every state in the U.S.
so that no one state was over-burdened by the influx ofrefugees. There were four refugee processing centers set up
and we were sent to Fort Chaffee, Arkansas, in August of
1975 and from there we were resettled to Atlanta.
Q: When you arrived to the United States, who helped
you find an apartment, show you around town, and such?
Hoa: We were sponsored by the First Presbyterian Church
in Atlanta, so they took care of us in the beginning,eJournal USA 36

finding a place to live, getting us settled with some job
opportunities, and then helping to get me and my siblings
into school.
Q: When did you begin to feel that the United States wasyour new home or did you always feel like a visitor?
Hoa: Both; kids are very honest with their feelings andI was constantly harassed by other kids in school. I also
have a temper, so I would fight back. I was constantly introuble throughout elementary school. Eventually, they
set up an ESL [English as a Second Language] program…and I was in the class with my brother and sister andkids from elsewhere. We were able to learn English more
systematically. We were able to relate to each other andthat helped with the transition into the regular classroom.
Q: Was it hard to get adjusted to the new culture?
Hoa: I was a very curious child and was always exploring
and getting into all sorts of trouble. I confronted
challenges head on. I was also very playful and would do
the sorts of things that little kids do and got in trouble
for that too. The challenges that my older siblings andmy parents went through, of course, impacted the family.
I remember my father got really ill a few years after wewere in the States and we didn’t understand the healthcare system and didn’t know what to do. He struggled
through cancer and eventually passed away. It was very,
very difficult for us during that whole period.
Q: Who were the people who helped you and your family?
Hoa: My ESL teacher was super helpful. She was very
compassionate and understanding. I remember her getting
married and leaving Atlanta and I was very upset by that.
The people at the Presbyterian Church were also very
helpful and responsive to our needs.
Q: How did you reconcile the divide between the people
who helped you and those who were less understanding?
Hoa: You grow up in life encountering people withvarious perspectives of viewing life and dealing with otherpeople from different parts of the world. The way that I
dealt with it was to rely on and trust the people who arehelpful, to know when to reach out for help, and to knowthat you can’t fight every battle.
Q: Were there people who made you feel welcome in
Atlanta and made you and your family feel at home?
Hoa: It’s very interesting that I don’t ever remember being
invited over to someone’s house for dinner, but the people
that helped us the most were the people from the church.
We would see them regularly on Sundays and then theywould come to our house to visit and…to make sure that
we had the things that we needed. We were very gratefulfor that. They also helped us find jobs. My dad and mymom had to do [menial] service jobs as compared to what
they were doing before in Vietnam. My mom ran her own
business and my dad worked for the South Vietnameseand U.S. governments, which was part of the reason why
we were lucky enough to be evacuated early.
Q: When did you and your family become U.S. citizens?
Hoa: At various times. For me, it was in 1991.
Q: How did you feel during this time?
Hoa: When we went to the courthouse in Atlanta forme to be sworn in, everyone was given a little U.S. flagand everyone had to raise it and it was just great to be inthat room and there were so many people from all over
the world, even people who could hardly speak a wordof English. There were people in their late 70s. It was
really great. I remember my dad was very involved in
the struggle in Vietnam and then we were assisted to be
evacuated. To come to a safe place and then to come tothe point where I am now officially a U.S. citizen — it
was a good feeling.
Q: When you were growing up did you think of yourself
as an American?
Hoa: I don’t think I ever thought of myself as an
American just because, one, there isn’t a single American
identity and two, there also isn’t a single Vietnamese
identity. I worked with a lot of Vietnamese-Americans
and other ethnic groups and other refugee and immigrantgroups and it’s very hard to…define who you are since
you and everything around you change over time.
Q: In the context that you are living now, how do you
think of yourself: Vietnamese-American, Vietnamese, orsomething else?
Hoa: I guess I would say, Vietnamese-American.
Q: Why did you decide to work for the State Department?
Hoa: When I was in high school, I started volunteering
for a homeless shelter and worked with children there.
Also in my high school, we had a magnet program that
focused on communications and so I became interested
in documentary photography. After high school, I got
involved in refugee work when the 1988 AmerasianHomecoming Act was passed, and I started working
with refugees that were able to be resettled in the U.S. I
worked very closely with several families and did anotherdocumentary photography exhibit with the families

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South Vietnamese in Da Nang, Vietnam, after the fall of Saigon in 1975,
struggle to climb aboard ships that will evacuate them to Cam Ranh Bay.
Tran and her family were evacuated to Cam Ranh Bay and eventually
resettled in Atlanta, Georgia.

© AP Photoare more agencies and organizations involved and also
more…former refugees who are staff. The pool [of people
who help refugees] is much more diverse and they bringexperience and insight that I think is definitely a big step
forward from when we arrived in 1975. Of course, eventhose who came in 1975 are still struggling now, trying tosurvive and navigate the system.

present. It was a way for them to share their experiences
and to make their issues public.
During undergraduate and graduate school, I
continued to do advocacy work, including work withrefugees. After getting my doctorate in Anthropology, I
found out about the AAAS [American Association for the
Advancement of Science] Diplomacy Fellowship Program.
I applied, got in and thought that I would only be in
DC for a short time. I wanted to be at State’s Bureau ofPopulation, Refugees and Migration (PRM) and luckily it
worked out with PRM. I intended on being here for only
a year or two, but I really admire the work of the bureau
and the people who work there are extremely dedicated.
They really work hard to provide humanitarian protection
and assistance to victims of conflict worldwide and work
endless hours to make things happen.
Q: As a former refugee yourself, what did you think thatyou could bring extra to helping other refugees?
Hoa: I just thought that they were struggling the same
way that I did, not knowing the lay of the land. I wanted
to be helpful to them, giving them whatever advice theyneeded or taking them to the doctor or doing whatever I
could to make their lives a little easier. I felt that I could
relate, given our family’s experiences, and I would be able
to communicate with them in their own language and also
take the kids out to do fun things and just hang out.
Q: Do you think that refugee services in the United States
have improved since you first arrived in 1975?
Hoa: Assistance was there when we arrived, but of course,with many years of experience with refugee flows, there

Q: Are there aspects of American life/culture that you
think played a specific role in your success? Do you thinkthat if you had been resettled to another country you
would have had the same opportunities?
Hoa: Definitely there are all sorts of opportunities here
[in the U.S.] and it is really up to the individual, whether
a refugee or not, to work towards achieving your goals
and try to find ways to maneuver through the challenges
and obstacles. Of course, there are underlying structuraland institutional systems that can be very difficult toovercome and it may take one individual many more years
than another, but definitely opportunities are there andin other circumstances opportunities are not there formany people. It’s hard to compare, if I had been resettled
in Sweden or elsewhere and given whatever kind ofchallenges or opportunities are there; just speaking for me
and my stubbornness, I will find a way to endure and deal
with challenges in one way or another.
Q: Describe your work on refugee policy given yourbackground as a former refugee.
Hoa: I believe that I understand the challenges of trying
to negotiate and work through numerous issues onhumanitarian protection and assistance for vulnerable
populations that we [PRM] cover, and trying our hardest
to achieve durable solutions or temporary protection
options. And when we can’t reach that objective no matter
how hard, we advocate…I lose sleep over it. It’s very hard,
but then there are times when it is possible to achievea solution to a complex situation and that’s extremely
rewarding. Again, as in life, you just put in your best
effort and try to fight as hard as you can to try to reach agoal. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose but you
don’t ever give up. n
To hear excerpts from Hoa’s interview, please visit
http://www.america.gov/refugees.html
The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views orpolicies of the U.S. government.

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Additional Resources

Publications, websites and films on refugees
Books and Articles

Marton, Kati. The Great Escape: Nine Jews Who Fled
Hitler and Changed the World. New York: Simon &Schuster, 2006.

Refugees’ Stories
Beah, Ishmael. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy
Soldier. New York: Sarah Crichton Books, 2007.
Bernstein, Nina. “First Day in America, First Sight ofSnow.” New York Times (February 11, 2010).
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B02E0D910
3FF932A25751C0A9669D8B63
Celeste, Erika. “From Job Skills to People Skills: Learning
U.S. Ways.” National Public Radio (July 6, 2010).
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.
php?storyId=128116102

Ogata, Sadako. The Turbulent Decade: Confronting theRefugee Crises of the 1990s. New York: W.W. Norton &Company, Inc., 2005.
Simple, Kirk. “Bhutan Refugees Find a Toehold in the
Bronx.” New York Times (September 25, 2009).
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/25/nyregion/25bhutan.
html?_r=1&fta=yUng, Luong. First They Killed My Father: A Daughter ofCambodia Remembers. New York: Harper Collins, 2000.

Gourevitch, Phillip. We Wish to Inform You That
Tomorrow We Will be Killed with Our Families: Stories from
Rwanda. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1998.

Wiesel, Elie. Night. New York: Hill & Wang, 1960.

Horowitz, Joseph. Artists in Exile: How Refugees from20th Century War and Revolution Transformed the American
Performing Arts. New York: Harper Collins, 2008.

Loescher, Gil. Beyond Charity: International Cooperationand the Global Refugee Crisis. New York: Oxford University
Press, 1993.

Jolie, Angelina. Notes from My Travels: Visits with Refugees
in Africa, Cambodia, Pakistan, and Ecuador. New York:
Pocket Books, 2003.

Loescher, Gil and Ann Dull Loescher. The Global
Refugee Crisis: A Reference Handbook. Santa Barbara, CA:
ABC-CLIO, 1994.

Kase, Aaron and F.H. Rubino. “Refugees Settling in
Philadelphia: Refugees Seek New Beginnings in the Cityof Brotherly Love.” Philadelphia Weekly (March 2, 2010).
http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/news-and-opinion/coverstory/Refugees-settling-in-Philadelphia.html

Loescher, Gil, James Milner, Edward Newman, andGary Troeller, eds. Protracted Refugee Situations: Political,
Human Rights and Security Implications. Tokyo, Japan:
United Nations University Press, 2008.

Kidder, Tracy. Strength in What Remains: A Journey ofRemembrance and Forgiveness. New York: Random House,
2009.
Kim, Mike. Escaping North Korea: Defiance and Hopein the World’s Most Repressive Country. Lanham, MD:
Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2008.

Policy Resources

Martin, Susan Forbes. Refugee Women. Lanham, MD:
Lexington Books, 2004.
Steiner, Niklaus, Mark Gibney, and Gil Loescher, eds.
Problems of Protection: The UNHCR, Refugees, and Human
Rights. New York: Routledge, 2003.

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Fictionalized Accounts
Díaz, Junot. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. New
York: Riverhead Books, 2007.
Eggers, Dave. What is What: The Autobiographyof Valentina Achak Deng. A Novel. San Francisco:
McSweeney’s, 2006.
Hosseini, Khaled. The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead
Books, 2003.
Mengestu, Dinaw. The Beautiful Things That Heaven
Bears. New York: Riverhead Books, 2007.

Websites
FY 2010 Report to Congress on Refugee Admission
Defines the U.S.’s proposed refugee admissions ceilings for2010 and the process of refugee admissions to the U.S.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidentialmemoranda-93009
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)
A humanitarian organization that provides assistance tovictims of armed conflict.
http://www.icrc.org
International Organization for Migration (IOM)
An intergovernmental organization that works withgovernments, non-governmental organizations, and otherpartners to provide assistance to refugees and internallydisplaced persons.
http://www.iom.int/jahia/jsp/index.jsp
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR)UNHCR leads and coordinates international efforts
to protect refugees and to help them seek asylum andresettlement.
http://www.unhcr.org
See Also:
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees(UNHCR): The Global Appeal 2010-2011
http://www.unhcr.org/ga10/index.html

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine
Refugees in the Middle East (UNRWA)
Provides protection and assistance for Palestinians in thePalestinian Territories, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria.
http://www.unrwa.org/
U.S. Department of State Bureau of Population,
Refugees, and Migration (PRM)
PRM provides aid and sustainable solutions for refugees,
victims of conflict and stateless people around the world,
through repatriation, local integration, and resettlementin the U.S. PRM also promotes the U.S.’s population andmigration policies.
http://www.state.gov/g/prm/
U.S. Refugee Admissions Statistics
Facts and figures on the number of refugees admitted to
the U.S. under the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program(USRAP) by region.
http://www.wrapsnet.org

Filmography
In This World (2002)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0310154/
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Summary: Young Afghan refugees living in Pakistan
embark on a dangerous journey to seek asylum in London
Lost Boys of Sudan (2003)
http://www.lostboysfilm.com/
Director: Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk
Summary: The documentary follows two Sudanese
refugees to Kenya and on to the United States. Winnerof an Independent Spirit Award and two Emmy
nominations.
North Korea - Shadows and Whispers (2000)
http://www.journeyman.tv/8988/documentaries/shadows-andwhispers.html
Director: Kim Jung-Eun
Summary: Filmed in the remote northeast mountains ofChina, this documentary showcases the difficulties facedby North Korean refugees who flee to China.

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Rebuilding Hope (2009)http://www.rebuildinghopesudan.org/
Director: Jen Marlowe
Summary: Follows the journey of three South Sudanese
refugees returning to their old homes. The documentaryshows them reconnecting with family and friends anddiscovering how to help their old communities.
The Split Horn: Life of a Hmong Shaman in America(2001)
http://www.pbs.org/splithorn/index.html
Director: Taggart Siegel
Summary: Traces the lives of Laotian refugees Paja Thao
and his family in the United States For over 17 years,
Siegel chronicled the lives of Paja Thao, a shaman, hiswife, and their 13 children.
War Child (2008)
http://www.warchildmovie.com/
Director: Christian Karim Chrobog
Summary: Documents the story of Emmanuel Jal, aformer child soldier in Sudan’s civil war. Jal is now an
emerging hip hop star dedicated to spreading messages ofhope and peace across Africa.
The U.S. Department of State assumes no responsibility for the content andavailability of the resources listed above. All Internet links were active as of
May 2010.

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