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 Sudanese family finds a new life in America
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The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Waynesboro welcomed this family from Sudan last week. The family includes Rashad Mohamed Ali and his wife Al Tahira Al Malin, holding their children, Razan and Abdulrahman. At left is Al Tahira's grandmother, Al Tahira Al Quep.
The Record Herald
By Nancy Mace The Record Herald
Saturday, October 23, 2004
WAYNESBORO - Al Tahira Al Malin wiped away tears as she described the feeling of being in her new home in Waynesboro.
"I cannot believe it. It was too good to be true," said the 30-year woman from Sudan, who had been living as a refugee with her family in Syria for the past four years.
The family - about the 12th sponsored by the church over the years - was forced to leave their home in Sudan.
"It's one of the ministries we give priority to," according to the Rev. Richard A. Seaks, pastor.
"This is an important thing we can do to address the suffering in that area," he added.
Some 1.5 million Sudan people have been driven from their homes and tens of thousands killed in the civil war-torn African nation. The discord was sparked by ethnic and political conflict.
Family history
The family, including Al Tahira's husband of five years, Rashad Mohamed Ali, 30, their two children, Razan, almost 2, and Abdulrahman, 10 months, and Al Tahira's grandmother, Al Tahira Al Quep, 71, are living in The Reider House adjacent to the church.
A garage with only a hot plate to cook on and a sink for washing dishes and bathing served as home for the family while they were refugees in Syria.
Eight months ago, they learned they would be coming to America. Their expected arrival in September was delayed when the younger Al Tahira, the only member of the family who speaks English, had problems with her passport.
"I felt very happy. I can't believe I am getting out," Al Tahira said.
"This is too good to be true," said the beaming woman as she looked around her new home.
"This had to be a faith journey. They had no family, friends -they know no one in this country," said Carol Hughes, community ministry coordinator for Lutheran Social Services and co-chair of the refugee committee at the church along with Alice Jones.
"They didn't know where they were going or what to expect," Hughes added.
Family's needs
Both of the parents will be looking for work, according to Jones. The family also needs a car, she noted.
The furnished house was stocked with food and other necessities, Jones noted.
The volunteers are helping the family settle in by taking them to doctor's appointments and tackling the mountain of government paperwork they face, Jones added.
The challenges, however, are nothing compared to what the family faced in Sudan when Al Tahira was living with her father and grandmother in Khartoum.
"The local government didn't like him," according to Al Tahira. Her father was beaten in prison and began having problems with his kidneys, eventually receiving one from his mother. He later died, said Al Tahira, who met her husband through his association with her father - both were political activists.
They were married only two months when her husband was sent to prison for the first time, she added. After he was incarcerated for the third time, Al Tahira sold her home and used the money to flee to Holland with her grandmother.
"They kept coming to my house looking for documents to be used as evidence," according to Al Tahira.
While living in a refugee camp for 18 months, Al Tahira learned her husband might be living in Syria.
"My life was really pretty bad. I wanted only to see my husband."
Al Tahira and her grandmother saved their refugee allotment money to pay for the trip to Syria, where after about a month, she was reunited with her husband.
"I found my life," she said.
Rashad worked construction, and she cleaned houses in Syria, together making about $100 a month. Their two children were born there.
Coming to America was a dream come true for the couple, Hughes said.
"They never expected their lives to be better. They wanted more for their children."
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Kostawi
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