Category: Who is going where

Church group takes mission trip to Lewiston, ME to give love to Somalis

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

It used to be that if you wanted to take a Christian mission trip to help impoverished Africans you went to Africa.  But, heck why spend the money on airfare when you can do the same thing right here—in Lewiston, ME.   Here is an article about an Exeter, NH church group that hopped a bus and drove a few hours to nearby Maine to help poor and many presumably unemployed Somalis and other homeless people there.   

You may have heard about Lewiston, Maine.  It became famous for its Somali population a few years ago when the story was that Somalis living in the Atlanta area got sick of being harrassed by local blacks and sent their elders city shopping.   They picked Lewiston, Maine—a very unhappy town at the time (and maybe still is).  

According to this article there are 7000 Somalis living in Lewiston now, with more arriving daily—7000!

So the church group spread around a lot of Christian love even though some among them were set back a bit by the behavior of the Somali kids.  But, it’s o.k. because it’s all post-traumatic stress that makes these kids behave so badly.

It was during this playtime with the Somali kids that we saw frequent flashes of what post-traumatic stress has done to these children.  [Ed:  These Somalis have been in Lewiston a long time and I’m betting many of these kids were born here]   The boys, in particular, are extremely aggressive and do not have any ability to talk out a conflict. They immediately resort to fighting and they fight hard.

Another factor that exacerbates the bad behavior of these children is that the Somali parents in Lewiston allow their children to just wander about town unsupervised and, as a result, are never there to witness the questionable behavior. The Somali parents think of Lewiston as their village rather than as an urban city. The director of the Jubilee Center, Kim Wettlaufer, has initiated dialogue (via interpreters) between the local police and the Somali parents so the police can try to explain why it is not safe for them to let their children wander unsupervised.

Despite the fighting and bad language, our kids recognized that these children needed and wanted the same things that every child wants: to feel safe, to have friends, and to be loved. In the afternoon, we created a safe and organized place for the kids to do crafts. Our kids gave these children endless piggyback rides, played hopscotch, blew bubbles, played soccer and basketball and just hung out and talked. When bad language was used, our kids would gently and consistently let them know that such language was unacceptable. Our kids were important role models for these children for the whole week and it rubbed off on them.

Yup, and after a week the church folks went home.

Somalis getting pink slips in Postville—already!

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

VDARE on Agriprocessors, August 27th here.

More on Postville (August 17) thanks to Blulitespecial here.

Yesterday I told you about a puff-piece written by an Associated Press reporter and published in the Washington Times about how great the influx of Somalis to Postville, Iowa was going.   Blulitespecial gets a gold star for sending this link reporting that the bloom is off the rose already.

But, here is the more interesting part!  This article was published BEFORE the AP story was published in the Times.  The Times story appeared on the 11th and this article is from the Telegraph Herald of Dubuque, IA on August 7th.

What did I tell you, these mainstream reporters and editors don’t know about google!  Or, could they possibly have an agenda?

Here is what the Telegraph-Herald said on the 7th:

They have little else to do. The jobs that lured them to the small northeast Iowa community have vanished, and they are unemployed and unsure.

They are Somalis, and they are the newest cultural influx to the city claiming to be Hometown to the World.

Then here are a few interesting lines.  Note the Agriprocesors representative talks about how colorful the town is and how American (hummm).   And especially note the reference to whether all these Somalis are here legally.   Is there any question?   They all should have arrived here as part of the US State Department’s Refugee Resettlement program.

On June 23, Barkadle [Somali from MN] packed his belongings and he and his son, Kamal Maqadin, drove to Postville. Maqadin was looking for a summer job to help pay college tuition. Barkadle wanted a home, and Postville’s cultural diversity seemed idyllic.

Abrahams [company management] said the company offered just that.

“It’s a very colorful plant and a colorful town, which is the true colors of America,” he said.

Although Abrahams does not know the specific number of Somali workers, the father-son duo estimated 350 people from their African nation descended upon the town. Most claim they are legal citizens, and Abrahams said the company has installed systems to ensure that employees are documented and eligible for employment.

The number of Somalis remaining in Postville is now estimated to be 150.  Maqadin has received his pink slip for no reason, he says.

AP says everything going great with Somalis moving to Postville

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Update August 13th:   Turns out it was never going great, see the latest news here.

About ten days ago we reported that the Kosher meatpacking plant in Postville, Iowa, the one that was raided by ICE because it employed hundreds of illegal workers is now bringing Somalis from far and wide.   Things are just great, says the mayor (and the AP):

The city’s mayor, Robert Penrod, said the Somalis were blending into Postville’s multiethnic fabric.

“They kind of mingle among themselves, and they don’t bother anybody,” Mr. Penrod said. “Some of them have left because they don’t like slaughterhouses, but a lot of them have decided to stay for now.”

Mr. Ahmed admitted he is still adjusting to the area. Like Mr. Abdi, he came from Minneapolis, where he said he had family and a steady supply of Somali food, such as goat meat.

In Postville, Mr. Ahmed said, he occasionally eats Latino food in local restaurants, but hopes an authentic Somali eatery will open soon.

Mr. Ahmed also said more Somalis were beginning to think about Postville as a long-term option.

“We are wanting to bring in families,” he said. “But we all need to make sure this is long term. So far, so good. We came here because they were hiring quickly, and I stay here as long as I can keep my hours.” 

You know its interesting to me that although the Associated Press reporters must know about google, they never seem to pull things together.  You would think there might be some reference in this puff-piece story published in the Washington Times (of all places, normally not so politically correct) to indicate things have not gone swimmingly with Somalis arriving in rural towns.    Shelbyville, TN and Emporia, KS come immediately to mind!

Gold star to the first reader who finds an article that reports the bloom is off the Postville rose!

What is up in Ft. Morgan, CO? Meatpacking and Somalis again?

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Yesterday someone sent me this announcement for an upcoming visit of representatives of the Office of Refugee Resettlement to Ft. Morgan, CO.    Something called the Integration Work Group will meet with people in the community.  

Representatives from the Office of Refugee Resettlement Integration Work Group will be visiting Fort Morgan on Thursday, Aug. 14.

They will arrive at Morgan Community College’s Adult Basic Education Building, 117 Main St., at 10:15 a.m. At 10:30 they will be introduced to OneMorgan County and the community with an overview of the program. This brief overview will be followed by a roundtable conversation.

At 1:30 p.m., the representatives plan to arrive at Cargill Meat Solutions. They will meet with Cargill staff in hopes of gaining insight into the Cargill perspective on the new refugee workforce. They will be learning about dynamics, recruitment, adjustment and integration.

My antennae went up—isn’t this another Somali resettlement city?  Yes, and it is home to giant meatpacking company Cargill.  Just last summer I wrote that a Refugee Resettlement Office was opening in the Greeley/Ft. Morgan area to accomodate incoming Somalis.  See my posts here and here.

I noticed that in those posts (a year ago!) I was guessing that this refugee resettlement office was being set up to facilitate a meatpacking company, it sure looks like it.    The meatpacker gets these LEGAL immigrant workers while the taxpayer takes care of all their other needs—healthcare, housing, schools, integration and so on.   Even groups like this OneMorgan County mentioned in the meeting announcement is funded with tax dollars.

I started searching around for more information, but there is so much stuff on Cargill and Ft. Morgan Somalis and meatpackers that I couldn’t absorb it all.  I did find this interesting bit I wanted to share here because I wonder how leftist do-gooders can reconcile their professed charity toward refugees with the fact that these refugees are working for what other leftists call monsters.   According to reports like this one, Cargill has its greedy fingers in all sorts of destructive activities around the world, like in Somalia of all places:

For example, Cargill dumped grain in Somalia at one-ninth the local farmer’s price, thereby greatly destroying the traditional subsistence economy of Somalia.

I don’t know if this is true, but some leftwing groups think so.  

We followed Shelbyville, TN  and Emporia, KS from near the beginning, so we have a handle on those conflicts, and now we need to get a handle on Ft. Morgan.    I’m looking for readers to send links to the comments on this article and maybe we can all educate each other about Ft. Morgan—good or bad.  If everything is just going great at Ft. Morgan and Somalis are assimilating and folks are happy, tell us that too.

Anyone live closeby in Colorado who could pop over to this meeting?