Page 12 - Our Hands FALL 2019

NEW AMERICANS

finding freedom

adine Niyonkuru and her four
children marvel at the water in their
Nhotel sink as they turn it on and
off. On and off. On and off. The water may
not seem extraordinary to other residents at
a hotel in Madison Heights, but the family
appreciates the convenience and abundance
of the clean water at the simple flip of a
handle. On and off. On and off.

It is June 2019 and the family has just
arrived in America after a long journey from
Tanzania. They think of the water shortages
they experienced in the refugee camps.
“The water was not safe,” Nadine says with
a frown, shaking her head. “It was usually
green or brown, and we had to walk far to get
the water.”

In addition, when Nadine made her daily
three-hour walk to where she farmed in
Tanzania, she had to think about how she
would spend the $1 she expected to earn that
day. “In the camp, the UN had food rations
for refugees, but there were people who
distributed the food who would steal part of
it,” she said, explaining the corruption they
faced. “Maybe the workers would give you
half of your food, and then they would ask
refugees to pay for the rest of the food they
were supposed to get for free. So you have
to find money so your family can eat. My
husband could not work, so I worked on a Nadine’s husband, Wilson Nsengiyumva, now 40 years old, has not been able to work
vegetable farm far away to earn $1 each day. as much as he would like since his injury over six years ago. The complex war in their
I had to decide whether I would use the $1 country of origin, the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been raging on for decades
that day to buy more food for my children, and it was in 2012 that it reached the Nsengiyumva family’s doorstep. They family
or $1 for a bundle of firewood, five trees I describes the gunfire surrounding their home when soldiers arrived in their village
carried on my head, to cook the food.” and Wilson was attacked, suffering several knife stab wounds in his leg.

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