Journey to the Third Coast

So many people are flocking to Austin that it is one of the fastest growing cities in America.  According to Forbes magazine, it is actually the fastest growing city.  Austin’s culture, music scene, and the ever growing tech industry inside the city are just a few of the reasons young professional Americans flock to these city limits.  Among this ocean of excitement and newcomers are a quieter people.  Most have unheard voices in a language that is not native.  They aren’t running to Austin for the beer and tacos, they are running from war and hardship.

Austin is one of several towns in the US that have privately funded sources available to help refugees that have decided to flee their own countries.   According to Patricia Hagen, former director at Girl Forward,

“The refugee experience, overall, is one that is mixed with gratefulness and relief to be in a safe and stable situation, but it is also one that is mixed with loneliness and isolation because refugees are most often resettled into poverty,” said Patricia Hagen, former director at Girl Forward. Put quotes in their own paragraphs and put the attribution (“according to blah blah) at the end of the sentence or paragraph whenever possible.

Hagen goes further to say that the former status of refugees in their native counties  (in their native country) does not have any  bearing over impact on the living conditions once they are resettled.  Entire families will be put into two bedroom apartments, whether the family size is two, or eight.   When it comes to family matters,

“Often adults will sacrifice any opportunity to learn English or further their education by working as many jobs as possible to give their children the tools that they need to succeed.” Says Hagen. succeed,” says Hagen.

With little to look forward to resettling in a new country, after leaving friends, family and resources behind, the question why would people flee their native country <basically, transition here to Dogon and get his input on what it looks like to live in a camp oversees.>

“It’s hell here” says Dogon Nshimiyimana, a Congolese refugee living in Gihembe, one of the biggest refugee camps in the world.
“2.transition was difficulty because we used to have food but arrived in the camp we started starving and  some of us started falling sick because of the rain, we did not have shelter  at our first time we arrived  in the camp, it was to difficulty for us to come in the camp

 

3.Now the way we live in the camp most of us are hopeless because we spend 20 years in the refugee camp, they do not have hope that will repatriate in their homeland, that is why most  of young people are addicted to drugs and in prostitution, we do not have enough food and sometimes people kill themselves because of not having perseverance . when they remember the way we lived before coming in the camp.

 

  1. we are now almost 20000 Congolese refugees in  our camp and yet we almost 56000 refugees in five camps, we live in hill called GIHEMBE, we live in red mud huts with  plastic roof with no electricity, the huts have one room and we  study up to grade 9 and stop there.” I still need to edit this down.

 

I still have 2 interviews coming up and I think I will add them in here toward the end.

 

Though the motives and resources vastly differ from person to person, people who are moving to Austin have one thin g in common.  Hope.

I don’t really like the wording here, but I like the idea