OneWorld.net
June 24, 2010
Groups that resettle refugees are struggling with diminishing federal funds and an ever more variegated client base.
From OneWorld.net:
When Serestine Cizanye arrived in Chicago from Tanzania it was winter and she spent every day in her room.
“I was confused, didn’t know when it was day and when it was night. Through the settlement agency, I met other refugees and immigrants and I was able to communicate with others in (my language) Kirundi,” Cizanye said.
A native of Burundi, Cizanye fled to a refugee camp in Tanzania in 1972 when the Tutsi-dominated government systematically massacred Hutus after a rebellion. She worked as a farmer, married and had five children. Then she was widowed.
In 1986, Cizanye was arrested by the Tanzanian government, along with numerous other women, and held against her will for three days. The women were all raped. Cizanye still suffers from the trauma of this experience.
In February 2008, Cizanye, 53, arrived in Chicago with two of her children, Pangrasi and Sipriyano. The resettlement agency provided her with housing, a bus pass and food stamps because her health prevents her from working.
But she has chest and back pain. She needs help navigating medical appointments because of language. Her sons are struggling at school. “It’s hard,” said Pangrasi, 15. “I don’t understand algebra; only science and arts.” Sipriyano said reading is difficult but he likes mathematics and has friends.
“These kids lived in a refugee camp for 11 years. They came here and didn’t speak a word of English,” said Terrance Sinabajije, a translator who works at the International Children’s Center (ICC) at Heartland Alliance.
“They learned through ESL classes, regular school, after-school programs and tutors provided by the settlement agency. It’s understandable that they have problems with some classes, but it’s still amazing if you could go and see how they lived in that refugee camp,” Sinabajije said.
Groups that try to resettle refugees like Cizanye are struggling with diminishing federal funds and an ever more variegated client base. Golden Door Coalition, a group of refugee service providers and supporters from the Chicagoland area, formed in January of this year, is advocating for a change in policy that would modify the Refugee Act of 1980, so it would be more relevant to the realities they face today.
