The Never Ending War Finally Ends In America

Khalif Warsame is originally from Somalia, which is located in the Horn of Africa.  His family was forced to flee the country after a Civil War broke out in the early 1990's.  After four elongated days of journey, they arrived at the Kenyan borders, where they settled in the coastal region of Kenya.  Life began to get tough for them since they were only seen as refugees; they did not have the same rights as the citizens of Kenya.  Warsame decided the only way they will ever escape to a secure and comfortable life was to come to the United States.  After living in refugee camps for 7 years, Warsame's resettlement to the United States was finally accepted.  Warsame and his family arrived in Mobile, Alabama on August 1st, 2004.  To be closer to his extended family, Warsame and his family moved to Minnesota, where he now works as a math teacher at a charter school in St. Paul.  We sat down with Warsame at Wilson Library at the University of Minnesota to get a better understanding of the hardship he endured in his life and the sacrifices he made in order to come to the United States.

Pre-War Life

Before the war, it [life] was excellent.  When I say "before the war", you (referring to his daughter, Ayan) are the only one who knows the war.  There was a war in Somalia.  I am from Somalia.  Before the war and after the war, there is a different life for me.  So, before the war, I was so good.  I have a good job.  I have a place to live.  I start my family.  I get my first three children.  I was working as a minister of treasury, and I was in a good position.  My family lives a good life.  I worked for the Department of Treasury in Somalia.  I was a teacher for 5 years and then I got a scholarship for that and I did my masters in business administration.  Then I switched to the Department of Treasury in Somalia.  Then the war happened and everything changed, destroyed, done.  And in 1991, there was a civil war that happened in Somalia.  And that war affected every single Somali.  Either you died, got injured or wounded.  Either you survived it, but you escape from the war and run. Either you lose your children.  Either some people separate their families.  So, generally, that war affected everybody.

In my immediate family, like my wife, my two children and me, we were surviving.  We get an opportunity to just run.  But, the problem that we share, from our country and to the country that we flee to, is that there are epic distances.  All people have no cars or vehicles.  Sometimes we just walk by food in maybe 16 miles.  So, in between them, there is also a fear of insecurity.  But eventually, we came to Kenya.  Kenya is another country of East Africa that is very close to Somalia.  when we come to the border, the United Nations of higher commissioner of refugees registers us as refugees.  No clothes, no documents, no shelter.  One thing about refugees is that we are always insecure in life.  Because of no good food, no good shelter, and no security.  We are not safe.  In the area we are living there are people of Kenya.  They have guns, and they loot the refugees in the night.  And they may kill.  So that's a very scary life - in all aspects.

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Refugee Camp in Kenya

Then we settle there and adapt to the system of that life.  For my children, there is school.  They are not very organized [referring to the school system].  But still, there is school that the children go to.  People like me who are educated are helping other people in communicating between the USR (1) and the community.  Between the hosting country of Kenya and the community.  To express their feelings and how the people are doing.  I was one of the Somali community speakers who translates and presents the needs of the refugees.  I have been the German of the community, and I was also working with the department of education that Kenya hosts with the refugees.  So, in my past profession, I was a teacher.  So I was doing the teaching for refugee students in different countries.  And after being a teacher for 3 or 4 years, they might promote me to be a superintendent.  I was inspecting their condition of the education.  So I have been the community representative and I have been with the education system.  I was trying to help my fellow Somali people.  Like children and those who are sick.  Those who need to resettle to other countries.  Those who need immediate response in terms of health.  So I was doing multiple jobs for the community.

Delay of Coming to America

In refugee camps there is a law that says that if you have been in a refugee camp for 5 years that that refugee either has to go back to their home country, or they have to be integrated to where they are.  Or they have to look at other places that they can settle.  So, two of them would not be possible.  Like integrating to where we are, that country said no. Going back home, no, because there is still a war there.  So the only option is to look at resettlement in another country like the United States or England.  So, there are individual cases that they look at.  They do not take all refugees.  And if they look at this case as genuine then they call you and they interview you.  When everything else is done, they give you a visa.  Then they check your health.  So, we do everything, and everything is approved.  We are ready to fly.  For the week of the flight, they have to check you.  So, the date we have an appointment, this girl [referring to his daughter, Ayan], she was very young, and she becomes sick.  And when we went there and the doctor checks her he says, "you have to stay."  And he postpones our flight one week.  She gets worse.  She was sick more than a week.  When she recovers, I check the place, and they said, "we don't have your flight."  Time not yet.  There are a lot of people who are going to go, so there is a lot of corruption.  So, you have to go back through a cycle, and it may take a long wait.  They just reported to the resettlement agency in the United States that the family is not coming because somebody has died, or the family has a big problem.

So, my file is to go under the table.  They do the other people.  Other than that, there is a visa and health documents that also expire.  In about a month or so, I go through, and nobody responds.  I get mad.  I just close everything.  I trust and give my friend my properties - everything I have.  It takes about 2 months.  It makes me so sad, because nobody ever responded and said your case is dead.  So, I was trying.  I have access to the offices of the resettlement because I was working with them.  And they told me that your file is not here.  I get mad.  I communicated with another person so the cases are different. I was so disappointed and I was not even confident because I know the places.  I know the people.  There is a lot of corruption within it.  You don't trust anybody.

Then, the last thing I found helped me figure out my case and they found it.  The problem is that the day it was found, there were only two days until the visa to the United States expires.  Two days remaining he said.  "Well if you do not fly tomorrow, your case will go back and will be processed in about 6 months."  Eventually, they helped me.  That guy said that we were very lucky.  We came here on August 1st, 2004, and that's the expiration date on our visa.  Sometimes I say I was very lucky.

Arriving in America

We came to the state of Alabama.  No Somali was there.  We were the only family.  We have no way to communicate and no family connections there.  There was a hurricane that happened in that area (2).  It was the first month we were there.  A week before, people went to Atlanta, Georgia because they knew that there would be a hurricane and all their things would be destroyed.  So the people who remained there have to go to a basement of a very strong building, like a school, which has concrete.  Either your house would be destroyed or you die and nobody would come to find you.  I said I can't move.  I can't.  I just wait for my luck.  So the owner of the house just fixed all the windows with wood and everything like this [referring to the wood siding of the room].  So we wait there and they told us maybe there would be no light, no electricity, and no water because of the destruction.

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Aftermath of the Hurricane

The hurricane came and there was a lot of destruction.  My house had a lot of trees fall down, but luckily, there was nothing destroyed.  But all electricity and water was gone.  I have been a survivor in refugee camps so I know what to do.  I buy containers and I put water in them.  I know that maybe we won't get water for 7 days.  So I fill every container with water.  I buy a cooking jug and candles.  I buy everything because I know what to do.  When the hurricane is gone the next day, the police came to us.  We survived and everything is fine.  They think that I have water and everything but that there's no electricity.  The food in the refrigerator will spoil because in the South, the temperature is about 85 degrees.  So in a day, everything would be spoiled.  It's not like here.

My house had a big fence.  So the next day, I used that to get everything dry.  I have trees that fell down.  I take the sticks and I make a fire and start cooking with that.  I have a neighbor that has nothing at all and I know he has nothing to eat.  So, I went and knocked on the door and gave him spaghetti and food that I cooked.

                                                                                                 Constellation7.org

America and it's Expectations

I expected a lot of changes in my life when I came.  A better education for my children, better security, and a job.  That was my expectation.  And it happened.  The expectation is that we have nothing at all and refugees believe that when they come to the United States that they get a lot of money and everything will be free but no - that is not true.  So, although I have limitation of that, I still believe that I got more than what I have.  That is my expectation, but I did not expect just to get everything I wanted.  But my expectation was to have a much better life when up here and I think I got it.

One negative thing is that we are in a different culture, a different religion.  Although we are from Africa, we are Muslim and Somali which is 100% Muslim.  I have stories and people, when they come here; there are a lot of changes, especially for the younger people.  I have expected myself to change yet I feel that Ayan should change.  I think part of the life change I have to learn is from some positive things that will not damage my religion and my culture.  My culture keeps the same.  My religion keeps the same.

My children should have some influences where they are growing.  Some of them don't speak fluent Somali and they are more culturally here than the state of their home country.  So they change and they have a dilemma.  They wanted to keep the culture of their home country and they have to be in the culture of this country.  So the children have this dilemma.  So I know they are in a difficult situation sometimes, because the parents did not like some of the things they want but the children want it.

Current Situation

[My life right now is] very good.  I thank God for help every day.  I have 6 children here in the United States.  3 boys and 3 girls.  The youngest girl is Ayan.  The other two girls are Ikran and Idil.  They are my oldest children.  Ikran is the oldest and Idil is the second oldest.  I have a son that is about 23 years old now.  He finished last at this school - U of M (University of Minnesota).  The second oldest daughter is in her second year of medical school.  The other one is finishing her bachelor's degree this year.  The other two are boys. One is a junior in high school and the other one is in middle school.  My wife is a great mother to my children.  We are a good family and I thank God to have all these things.  If I go back to my education, I did my master at California State University in 1986.  I did my masters for business administration - MBA.  But I didn't work here in the United States.  I just go into the field of teaching.  I am a teacher.  I actually did not practice my MBA program since I came here but when I was in Somalia I was doing so.  That is how my family and I are.  I am a very proud parent.

Khalif Warsame

Footnotes:

(1) - The United Somali Root was founded in 1991.  A non-violent organization, the USR serves indigenous Somali groups.

(2) - In September, 2004, Hurricane Ivan caused major damage to the Caribbean and the United States.  It reached its peak strength when going through Cuba.  It also affected the Eastern United States (such as Alabama and Florida), Grenada, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and the Cayman Islands.

Story Facilitators:

Brian Lichtor, Lisa Yang, Ayan Hassan