Lori Duff, who served with the Peace Corps in the Ivory Coast, a country now too war-torn to be safe for aid workers, served as the bridge between cultures, helping convince the refugees to discuss their new lives in America
Our refugees
Africa's needs cannot be solved by resettlement programs.
June 21. 2005 8:00AM
I
n recent editions of the Monitor, reporters Amanda Parry and Eric Moskowitz and photographer Lori Duff introduced readers to some of the city's newest residents. They are Somali Bantu refugees, people who stand out less for their dark skin than for the women's bright clothes and tradition of carrying their babies swaddled in scarves on their backs. Duff, who served with the Peace Corps in the Ivory Coast, a country now too war-torn to be safe for aid workers, served as the bridge between cultures, helping convince the refugees to discuss their new lives in America.
Many of the Bantu are new not just to the United States and the English language but also to the modern world. Most spent a decade or so living in hunger and fear in a refugee camp - a world without electricity, toilets and running water. Most are illiterate.
Historically they lived in what are now several central African nations. Wherever they went, the common denominator was persecution. For two centuries the Bantu have been victims of violence, once sold into slavery and now robbed of their lands.
In 2000, the United States agreed to resettle 12,000 Bantu refugees in cities across the nation. About 60 now call Concord home. They are adapting, but their needs are more than a small cadre of teachers and volunteers can meet.
Most of all, the Bantu families need people to befriend and to mentor them. Lutheran Social Services, the agency charged with resettling them, offers training programs for volunteers willing to be matched with a family. Donations of new items, assistance with transportation, help with everyday matters like grocery shopping and paying bills - all would be appreciated. Employers willing to give the hardworking refugees a chance are also needed.
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Concord is the richer for the refugees, who will in time become part of the community. Our hope is that their presence puts a human face on African suffering which is on a scale far too great to be addressed by resettlement.
Africa is the globe's poorest continent, and most of it is getting poorer by the year. Many African nations achieved independence just decades ago. The lines drawn on the map by colonial rulers are constantly being erased by gunfire.
This month, the U.S. State Department put the death toll in the Darfur region of Sudan alone at 60,000 to 160,000. Other estimates are twice as high. Farming in many nations has been a casualty of war, making starvation a common cause of death. Strife at some level is claiming lives in Nigeria, Rwanda, Congo, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Eretria, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
Many Africans needlessly die from malaria and other diseases that could be prevented or treated cheaply. And by 2025, the African AIDS epidemic could claim 80 million lives. Each year, AIDS creates millions of orphans, many of whom are also infected.
The refugees who now call Concord home escaped that world, but for most there will be no escape. They must be helped where they live.
Next month the world's leading industrial nations will meet in Scotland to discuss steps to reduce the crushing poverty that underlies so many of Africa's problems.
Rock stars like Bono, Madonna and Elton John will begin a series of fund-raising concerts to publicize Africa's plight and convince the world's wealthy nations to come to the rescue. Billionaire Bill Gates has joined the effort.
In its own small way, Concord is doing its part. But to make a real difference, the United States will have to join with the world's wealthy nations to pull Africa back from the brink.
