This is one of those feel-good stories about refugees. We are criticized all the time for showing the bad side of refugee resettlement, but that is our job—to balance the mainstream media that just loves to publish stories like this one that sound oh so good! The only thing this story needs, to more perfectly fit the template, is for refugees to see their first snow—in San Antonio!
From My San Antonio News:
Eight years ago, Lawi Ndabaramiye and his family fled war sweeping across the Congo for the safety of a Rwandan refugee camp.
A month ago, seeking safe haven as millions of immigrants have before him, he arrived in San Antonio with his wife and seven of his nine children under the auspices of the Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement Program.
Friday morning he sat with 60 other new arrivals at an orientation meeting in a conference room at Catholic Charities. While separated by languages they were united in a desire to learn the ways of their new land.
Ndabaramiye, 48, concentrated on the words his interpreter translated from English to Swahili. These words, she told him, offered the key to a life once beyond his reach.
“I never dreamed I’d be living in a home like I have,” case manager Susan Mwangi said, translating for Ndabaramiye. “It’s like a dream come true.”
The two-hour orientation is mandatory and covers a range of topics, including nutrition, hygiene, housing, schools, federal financial assistance, transportation, employment, health and U.S. laws and policies.
Live in peace and don’t beat your kids!
He told the group they weren’t allowed to physically hit their children or fight with each other.
“You need to try and live in peace,” he said.
Now to balance this mostly warm and fuzzy piece, we have at least one story about Catholic Charities falling down on the job in San Antonio, here, and leaving refugees in a cold apartment with little food. Catholic Charities was told—don’t bring more refugees until you take care of the ones you have. But, you see, the Obama Administration is pouring refugees into the US in record numbers and they have to go somewhere. I suspect Texas is a prime location because they don’t have the high unemployment rate that other states do—but they will if they keep this up!
Using our search function I see we have a bunch of posts on San Antonio and the refugee/asylee “community.” Here is a recent one about a trial for an alleged Somali human smuggler. Just can’t escape those Somalis in the news.