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CNN Live Sunday
Bantu Refugees Adjust to Life in America
Aired June 22, 2003 - 16:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Now to another part of world. During the Somalian civil war in the 1990s, the ethnic Bantus fled the chaos to relative safety of refugee camps in Kenya. Traditionally, a persecuted group, thousands, face a new life as they were resettled across the United States. But as Alfonso Van Marsh tells us, their journey is far from over.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALFONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fifty-year- old Jele Mugoya is trying to get to downtown Denver, Colorado. The problem is, Jele barely understands English. He's been in the States in just a few weeks, and this is only the fourth time he's ever been on a public bus.
(on camera): What stop? That corner there?
(voice-over): Jele is an ethnic Bantu and former farmer, one of some 12,000 Bantu the U.S. government says deserves refugee status after suffering years of violence and abuse in Somalia.
JELE MUGOYA, BANTU REFUGEE (through translator): Where I am from, my family had to hide from rival Somali clans. They took what they wanted, they killed who they wanted. I don't have that here. Here I am free, I can go wherever I want.
VAN MARSH: The U.S. government is resettling Jele's family and other Bantus in 50 U.S. cities. Non-government organizations help Bantus get housing, government assistance, and adjust to life in America.
JEANE FIRHMIN, BANTU RESETTLEMENT VOLUNTEER: They've survived this long. They're not going to fall apart.
VAN MARSH: Volunteers also say language and culture shock will be the Bantus' biggest challenge.
(on camera): Jele and his family live in this racially diverse, mixed income neighborhood just outside of Denver, but resettlement volunteers say that they're worried about how Denver's Somali population may treat the recently arrived refugees.
Back in Somalia, ethnic Bantus have been oppressed for generations.
(voice-over): Torture and war survival counselor, Sherif Amin, who is also Somali, says Somalis here will treat the Bantus with respect.
SHERIF AMIN, ROCKY MOUNTAIN RESOURCE CENTER: Whatever happened back home happened, and it's a tragedy, but as we are here, established here, the U.S. as home, then we all believe in one and live side by side.
VAN MARSH: Jele spent 10 years in a refugee camp, and now he is coping with life in America. Jele says he wants his kids to get a decent education and retain their Bantu culture, but like any American teen, son Mohammed (ph) already loves his cable TV, proof that some aspects of American life bypass language and cultural barriers.
Alfonso Van Marsh, CNN, Denver.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 22, 2003 - 16:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Now to another part of world. During the Somalian civil war in the 1990s, the ethnic Bantus fled the chaos to relative safety of refugee camps in Kenya. Traditionally, a persecuted group, thousands, face a new life as they were resettled across the United States. But as Alfonso Van Marsh tells us, their journey is far from over.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALFONSO VAN MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fifty-year- old Jele Mugoya is trying to get to downtown Denver, Colorado. The problem is, Jele barely understands English. He's been in the States in just a few weeks, and this is only the fourth time he's ever been on a public bus.
(on camera): What stop? That corner there?
(voice-over): Jele is an ethnic Bantu and former farmer, one of some 12,000 Bantu the U.S. government says deserves refugee status after suffering years of violence and abuse in Somalia.
JELE MUGOYA, BANTU REFUGEE (through translator): Where I am from, my family had to hide from rival Somali clans. They took what they wanted, they killed who they wanted. I don't have that here. Here I am free, I can go wherever I want.
VAN MARSH: The U.S. government is resettling Jele's family and other Bantus in 50 U.S. cities. Non-government organizations help Bantus get housing, government assistance, and adjust to life in America.
JEANE FIRHMIN, BANTU RESETTLEMENT VOLUNTEER: They've survived this long. They're not going to fall apart.
VAN MARSH: Volunteers also say language and culture shock will be the Bantus' biggest challenge.
(on camera): Jele and his family live in this racially diverse, mixed income neighborhood just outside of Denver, but resettlement volunteers say that they're worried about how Denver's Somali population may treat the recently arrived refugees.
Back in Somalia, ethnic Bantus have been oppressed for generations.
(voice-over): Torture and war survival counselor, Sherif Amin, who is also Somali, says Somalis here will treat the Bantus with respect.
SHERIF AMIN, ROCKY MOUNTAIN RESOURCE CENTER: Whatever happened back home happened, and it's a tragedy, but as we are here, established here, the U.S. as home, then we all believe in one and live side by side.
VAN MARSH: Jele spent 10 years in a refugee camp, and now he is coping with life in America. Jele says he wants his kids to get a decent education and retain their Bantu culture, but like any American teen, son Mohammed (ph) already loves his cable TV, proof that some aspects of American life bypass language and cultural barriers.
Alfonso Van Marsh, CNN, Denver.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
