Where is the Milk and Honey? A story of Somali Bantus who are struggling to cope

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Where is the Milk and Honey? A story of Somali Bantus who are struggling to cope with their new lives in America

 

Yasmeen Maxamuud

August 1, 2005

 

Somali Bantus going for resettlement to the US in Lokichoggio airport about 100 Km from Kakuma Camp, Kenya.

 

Editors Note: This story was written in December 2004.The author prepared the story to be published in various DC metro area papers to advocate on behalf of the Baltimore Bantu immigrants. This story is representative of all Bantu immigrants scattered throughout the US . We hope it invokes thought and brings to light the dilemma faced by the Bantu population.

 

America , are you still in the mood of giving? Since this is the season when Americans reach deep into their pockets to contribute to each other and others, I thought this would be a great opprtunty to expose poverty stricken families that are needier than most. Do not look afar, many reside in Baltimore metro area a close proximity to many of you, the only divide of course is their status as the newest immigrant community that America has genoursly extended its hand to migrate here. It is hard to believe that there are people in this great city of ours who live in such somber conditions. Children who do not wear winter jackets or socks to protect themselves from the severe cold weather because their parents cannot afford the items. The protection for their feet is limited to wearing mere flip flops in the dead of winter, and an infant that bleeds from the nose as a result of the lead paint poising caused by the high lead levels in the apartments homes they have been resettled in.

 

If these conditions seem appalling for the morally concious, it is extremely baffling for Faadumo Xasan Mohamed, Isniino ( meaning one who is born on Monday), the mother of some of these children. Isniino came to plea for help from the members of the greater Somali community in the Maryland area. She details how she became informed of the severe paint poisoning that were causing acute bleeding for her infant daughter. She said a woman came to visits her house to inform her of the high levels of lead paint poisoning in her apartment. The women who was sent from the department of Social Services began to speak very fast in English, since Isniino does not understand English, she had asked the woman through mainly pointing gestures to leave a message in the answering machine for the Somali interpreter who would visit them later that day. It was the interpreter who broke the news to Isniino that her infant daughter was suffering from lead poisoning. Isniino spend the next month in the hospital with her infant daughter to treat the ailment.

 

Meanwhile, the process to relocate Isniino and her family from the lead loaded apartment into a town house that costs much more than she and her husband can afford has been initiated by the case worker from IRC. Isniino was asked to sign an apartment application that neither she nor her husband could comprehend. When they realized the cost of the apartment, as well as the fact that the apartment had a very high stair case proving movement for her disabled father in law very difficult, they had asked their Somali case worker from IRC to rescind the application, since they did not understand the terms and never saw the apartment before the move in day, he refused.

 

“He forced me to move into an apartment I never saw with high stairs†Isniino said. Isniino's children and the elderly gentleman Zakaria, her father in law keep having accidents with the stairs. Had she seen the apartment ahead of time, she would not have moved in. Now they are stuck with rent they can hardly scrape to pay and impractical home. People like Isniino are left to fetch for themselves by the organizations that have settled them after their assistance period comes to an end. They are given very little preparations to mainstream into their new lives. Her food stamp has been cut, her husband works and although he does not make enough to take care of the monthly expenses, they no longer qualify for benefits, even Zakariyah; the elderly gentleman gets no benefits.

 

As the media recounted the horrible predicaments of the Bantus in Somalia , many would be Somali helpers already residing in the US were discouraged by the grave negative publicity depicting them as perpetrators of abuse and slavery. However, most came to the realization that no amount of negative publicity can kill the commonalities that exists between them as Somalis who share common language, religion, and culture in a foreign land. This was the beginning of the relationship that began as the greater Somali community in Maryland embraced their newly arrived counterparts. Neither allowed despair by the negative publicity that temporarily contributed to their polarization hinder their relationship.

 

So what has come of the newest immigrants who have been scattered throughout the country?

 

To say the least, their lives have not been honey and roses at all. Equipped with nothing more than their God given health and much enthusiasm and not comprehending much the luck that has won them a space to be resettled in this great country, the Bantus were settled in various communities throughout the nation. The grave misjudgment of resettling this group away from their Somali brethren whom they share common culture, language and religion to name a few, has contributed to their plight as language and cultural barrier have become a reality they were ill prepared for. The disappointing realities begun as they found themselves in the midst of their American lives, except things did not work out as wonderfully as they have been led to believe. While a perfect live of smooth sailing was not expected by many of these hard working new immigrants, and while many have thrown themselves into many situations to better their lives, the shock and disappointment in their eyes speaks volume of the failures and misjudgment of the resettlement organizations that have failed to mainstream these undereducated, mostly illiterate, unskilled immigrant farmers into their new lives.

 

Today, it is not social services, or the resettlement organizations that are in the process of uplifting this community to make their very difficult transition as smooth as possible. It is however the larger Somali community in Maryland who support them through interpretations while explaining the different culture of their newly adopted country. The Bantus are glad to receive such assistance from their brethren, who understand their needs only too well as they have gone through it years earlier. The union has been initiated by the older Somali communities who understand the challenges of living in a new country too well.

 

One particular community organization that has been involved in the transition process for the Bantus is the Somali American Community Association of Maryland (SACA). Started by community members as a vehicle to reach the larger Somali community in Maryland to solve community issues, this group of professional Somalis who have benefited from their many years of living in this country use the know how gained through years of education while solving problems through indigenous traditional Somali customs that have worked for many centuries. SACA has mobilized its community members to donate cloths, furniture, beddings, toys and household stuff and anything they can spare to donate to the new comers. They also hold meetings with the Bantu group to figure out their needs, call schools on their behalf, and accompany them on social service meetings while encouraging them to be optimistic and to persevere.

 

It is humbling to know that SACA members have been doing this for the past year on a voluntary basis as the young organization still does not have funding to help the community needs. In Maryland , the Bantus have been resettled in the Baltimore area, a distance away from the older Somali community who mostly reside in Montgomery county and surrounding vicinity. The distance is nothing that dissuades SACA members from reaching the new comers. The generosity of the larger Somali community has been a saving grace for the Bantus. The newest Somali refugees are in dire need of all the assistance they can get.

 

The hope is that the Somalis come together as people (Both Bantus and the larger community) to defy the negative media publicity and overcome the polarization created by ill informed American media outlets that see issues through a race and slavery lens that is uniquely American and which has contributed to the ugly race issues that exists in this country. Although the Bantu situation in Somalia was a grave one, to qualify it as slavery is counterproductive and narrow in vision. Somali community organizations throughout the country can be a positive conduit to transcend the gap and division that currently exists.

 

Yasmeen Maxamuud

 

E-Mail: yasmeen_maxmuud@yahoo.com