A very interesting story about African refugees making their home in Denver. DP
newschannel5.tv: DENVER - In the kitchen of his sparsely furnished Denver apartment, Jonathan Nduwayo Sarukundo displays a large yellow can of Nido, a nutrient-rich powdered milk. He keeps it as a reminder of his past.
Sarukundo, his wife and their four sons fled civil war in their native Democratic Republic of Congo, survived a refugee camp massacre in neighboring Burundi, and were resettled this spring in Denver by the United Nations. Cans of Nido were status symbols in the refugee camp.
"I'm happy here with what I've got," Sarukundo, a slightly built and soft-spoken 42-year-old, said through a Swahili-speaking interpreter. "Now all I'm focusing on is raising this family."
Making Denver home is an emotionally and physically exhausting process for Sarukundo, one of 500 refugees of the Banyamulenge tribe being resettled here and in San Francisco, Louisville, Ky., Abilene, Texas, and other cities.
He had never felt temperatures like the low 30s of mile-high Denver in the spring - or seen snow. He's never used public transportation. He has to remember how to shake hands for job interviews.
There are the sprawling grocery stores with their packaged foods, membership cards and discounts. The challenge of using an electric range. The intricacies of the telephone, the television.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.
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