The cultural diversity proposal won by one vote over others to seek a grant to address underemployment and children's issues, she says. That was a big step. Project volunteers have helped train minority residents to serve on local boards and commissions, and funded the formation of cultural centers and cultural awareness programs at schools. They also plan to lobby local school boards to implement a multicultural curriculum. People are making an earnest effort to work together.
Some refugees agree.
She has joined a church and works as a secretary with the refugee program. But some refugees say the area has a way to go before they feel comfortable. Martins Muoang says he fled the central African country of Zaire after his parents were killed in a car bomb. He arrived in Fargo two weeks ago with a friend, Gervais Langando, who had been jailed in the Central African Republic after he protested his government's decision to allow European nuclear waste into the country. The men say recent incidents at a local park and on a city street have left them wondering whether they are really welcome.