Makuni Anthos, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, displays a doll wearing the traditional clothing of his home country. Photos by Richard Creaser
DERBY — The guest speakers at Friday’s Diversity Day seminar at Indoor Recreation of Orleans County (IROC) spoke of a world far removed from the rural Northeast Kingdom. Understanding their experiences and learning more of the world around them is the goal behind the Vermont Peace Academy’s Center for Respectful Schools program. The program brought its message of peace and understanding to students from the Orleans-Essex North Supervisory Union on Friday in two sessions.
“By learning about each other we hope to create a peaceful school, peaceful community, and peaceful world,” said Michiko Oishi, executive director for the Vermont Peace Academy. “I hope you will also like to learn about different countries.”
All four of Friday’s guests hailed from Africa. With a continent large enough to encompass all of the United States, Europe and China, the breadth of diversity among Africans is immense, Mary K. Dennison said. Ms. Dennison of the Association for Africans Living in Vermont worked in cooperation with the Peace Academy to bring in the speakers.
Makuni Anthos hails from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. His path to the United States, like that of many African refugees, is fraught
Fardosa Mohamed (right) dresses North Country Union Junior High student Michelle Corriveau in a traditional Somali garment. Speaking of the traditional garment, Ms. Mohamed pointed out that older Somali women typically wear such a garment. “It’s not something I would wear,” she admitted.
with war and violence. Civil war in Rwanda spilled over into the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1998. Mr. Anthos and 11 members of his immediate family spent the next seven years living in a Tanzanian refugee camp, one of the 350,000 displaced people living in tents.
“Every day we had the exact same thing to eat,” Mr. Anthos recalls. “Can you imagine everyone living in the same tent, eating the same food for seven years?”
Like many refugees Mr. Anthos was not given a choice as to where to relocate. Once the refugees were processed they were simply sent away. Preparing for a new life in a new place was certainly complicated by having so many unknowns to cope with. The bonds of family, so very strong in the Congo, were not as apparent in America. Large extended families were the norm for Mr. Anthos but far less so for his new neighbors in Vermont.
“When we saw snow for the first time everyone in my family was very surprised,” Mr. Anthos said.
Two young Muslims from Somalia were next to address the group. Abdullahi Matan, 19, and Fardosa Mohamed, 20, both attend Winooski High School. Though both of Somali origin, each came to the United States by a vastly different path.
Mr. Matan was born in a refugee camp in Kenya. His experience in the East African school system proved far different from his experiences in Winooski. For instance, it is very typical for insolent students to be whipped by their instructors in Africa. That impertinence could be as simple as tardiness or as innocuous as asking a question of the teacher.
“I cannot forget even now the first time I was whipped,” Mr. Matan said. “I had trouble sitting down for a long time.”
Ms. Mohamed came to America via Yemen following a two-day trip by boat from Somalia. America, to her, was a land of opportunity.
“In America you have a good education,” she said. “I dreamed of coming to America.”
Soriba “Simbo” Camara shares his passion for music and dance with students and their chaperones.
Both of them plan to someday return to their native country. Mr. Matan’s plans are somewhat more concrete. He has set a goal of returning to his country by June 2010, he said.
Soriba “Simbo” Camara’s experience in the United States is far different from that of the other speakers. A native of Guinea, West Africa, Mr. Camara, a professional dancer, met and married a Vermont woman.
“I came to America for love,” he said. “Dance and drum — that’s my profession, that’s my love.”
Mr. Camara is a teacher of African dance and drumming and has toured the nation and the world in that capacity since 1986. He still recalls his first impressions of Vermont, taking particular note of the vastly different climate between Guinea and his new home in Vermont.
“I put on pants, one, two, three pairs and a hat and gloves, and I went to bed,” he said. “The weather in Vermont is trouble for Africans.”
In spite of his initial discomfort, he has since grown used to the temperatures in the northern United States. On his many trips back to Guinea since he has discovered that his home country is now a little too hot for his liking.
“When I go back to Guinea I have to stay outside and wear very little clothes,” Mr. Camara said. “It is just too hot!”
There are essentially two seasons in Guinea — hot and wet, he said. During the rainy season many roads become impassable and many homes are swept away by the torrential rains. Ice, a very valuable commodity in Guinea, is free for the taking in Vermont, Mr. Camara said.
“I remember calling my mother and telling her you don’t need to buy ice here,” Mr. Camara said. “It comes out of the ground.”
Dance is an important local custom, he said. While his countrymen dance all day, every day, exceptions are made during the Islamic celebration of Ramadan. During Ramadan the people fast from sunrise until sunset, at which time feasting and dancing resumes.
All four guests have noted that they have not faced discrimination in their new homes here in Vermont. In general the people of Vermont are pleasant and welcoming, facilitating their transition to their new home.
“People in Vermont are very, very nice,” Mr. Anthos said. “It is a good place to live.”
