Refugee Story One

I’ve worked at Refugee Resettlement for almost three months, and in that time I’ve heard a lot of stories. The stories have been heartbreaking, inspiring, and infuriating. I've decided to share some of the stories I've heard at Refugee Resettlement throughout the year.

Typically, the stories that stand out the most to me are the heartbreaking and infuriating ones. I think there are more sad stories than any other kind, but I would like to start off with a story that is happy.

A Sudanese woman in her late fifties/early sixties came in to file an I-130, which is a form that's used to bring family members to the United States. She has been in America for fifteen years and is now a citizen. She told me that seventeen years ago, when the youngest of her nine children was a baby, she had to flee from her village during the middle of the day. When she left, she didn't know where her husband was.

Fortunately, she made it to a refugee camp with all of her children. The woman tried to find her husband through family members and friends, but could not. After a few months at the refugee camp, she came to believe her husband was dead.

After two years in the refugee camp, she was able to come to the United States with her family. In America, she has worked hard and has almost always had two jobs. All of her children have gone through school and all but her youngest, who is seventeen and still in high school, have gone to college. She has twelve grandchildren and one of her daughters is in medical school.

A few weeks before the woman came in to Catholic Charities, she got a call from her sister-in-law (who is still in Africa) that her husband is alive. She didn’t believe it, but the next day she spoke to her husband on the phone. She said his voice was the most wonderful sound she ever heard.

Her husband is now elderly and sick (he's about ten years older than her). She said his mind is confused, but he knows who she is and wants to be with his family. Her children are all asking her to bring their father to America and she said they talk about him all the time now.

She’s filed the paperwork she needs in order to bring her husband to the United States, her husband will be interviewed, he will have a medical exam, and he will more than likely be in Buffalo in six months to a year.

The woman said she’s always believed in miracles, but she didn’t believe that there could be one this big. She hopes that when her husband is here in the United States and is surrounded by the love of his family, he’ll get some of his health back.