“Don’t let them feel that they are strangers…”

On September 27, Yahya, Almaz, and their 8-year-old son stepped off a plane in Greensboro, North Carolina. For them, arriving in the United States was nothing short of a miracle. “Really, God saved us.” Yahya and Almaz were born in Ethiopia when the Derg, a communist regime, was still in power. Yahya’s family were farmers in Oromia. They grew coffee, …

“I was there…”

Ajuwa and Imani were born in Bukavu, the capital of the South Kivu province, in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. Growing up, they had a happy life in the city: Ajuwa with his parents and four siblings and Imani with her parents and six siblings. “We were living good in Bukavu. There was work. We could go …

The Most Important Day

In May 2012, Ibrahim Salih and Nada Ahmed arrived in Greensboro as refugees from Sudan. They got on a plane to the United States after three and a half years of living as asylees in Egypt. “We didn’t even know English, not even a little English. Zero, zero, zero.” English proved to be only one challenge among many. Just before …

Sowing Seeds of Peace and Justice

Mentzie Abdul-Rahman has always known that she wanted to practice social work. Both of her parents were community activists in Charlotte, and her father was an Imam who started the first Islamic Center there. When she was nine years old, her father organized an interfaith rally in Charlotte to advocate for human rights and social justice during the Bosnian Genocide. Mentzie …

From Vietnam to Western Carolina State University

Po Rmah came with her family to the United States as a refugee from Vietnam when she was 7 years old. Last week, she began classes at Western Carolina State University, receiving the John R. Kernodle scholarship and becoming the first person in her family to enroll in a 4-year college. Today, she took the time to talk with me: …

Thanks, Erin!

This year, CWS Greensboro has enjoyed the hard work and dedicated effort of Erin Sexton, who served as an Americorps ACCESS member. Under the umbrella of the national Americorps program, Americorps ACCESS is a state-wide project that places volunteers at local sites for one year to provide direct services to refugees and immigrants. Erin’s last day was Friday, August 31st, …

Welcoming the Stranger and Holy Discomfort

A refugee’s resettlement journey is not for the faint of heart. Besides the trauma of life-threatening situations and pointed persecution in their home countries, refugees suffer the grief of losing friends, family, and community.  Once in the United States, they must rebuild their lives from the ground up equipped merely with a suitcase of belongings and the assistance of a …

Rashid Kinyenya

Rashid Kinyenya was a 28-year resident of his home country of Uganda, where his livelihood entailed working with a biomedical equipment company at Medimark Ltd. Rashid holds a Bachelor’s of Science and was studying for his Masters when he began to feel persecution brought upon by the community and new governmental laws. He fled from Uganda and stayed in Nairobi …