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Show May 20. 2004 Family From page RAPIDLY B Nduli said. "We had some trouble communicating because of the language barrier, but it was amazing." With Baba Saed translating. Airman Nduli found out her brother, Mohammed, was killed during Somalia's civil war. Her older sister had wed a Kenyan and was no longer living with her mother. She also found out she had a second younger sister in her mother's care, Ifrah. Ms. Nduli and the teenager made plans to go to the Sherwac family at the end of the school year. Ms. Nduli chartered a plane for the family to finally leave for Kenya, which is where they would meet. "When I stepped off the plane in Kenya, my mother she knew me right away began to call my name," said Airman Nduli. While in Kenya, Ms. Nduli found a house for the family. But after Airman Nduli returned to the United States and joined the Air Force, things for her biological family fell apart. Soon after the Ndulis returned to the United States, the Sherwac family was pulled from their home by Kenyan soldiers. Airman Nduli's mother and sisters were beaten, and the house burned to ashes simply because they were Somali, she said. All the way from the United States, Ms. Nduli was able to get an apartment for the family in Kenya. But again, the family's home was taken, this time by thieves. "They had no choice but to go to a refugee camp," said Airman Nduli. "My mother and I went to visit them in the winter of 2002, and all I could do was cry because of the situation they were in." Life in the Kenyan refugee camp had not been kind to what remained of Airman Nduli's family. After initially moving into the cafnp, which was home to Sudanese, Kenyans, Somalis, Ethiopians and Tanzanians, her mother and sisters were mistakenly placed in the Sudanese section of camp a dangerous situation for three Somali women. "During their first month in camp, my two sisters were beaten, my mother was beaten and their tent was burned. It took that whole first month, before (camp officials) moved them," said Airman Nduli. While in Kenya, Airman Nduli went to check on the status of her family's permission to leave for the United States. They were in a refugee program, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to help them leave the country. According to the organization's Web site, in Africa alone, more than people fall under the program's mandate. Its purpose is to safeguard the g of rights and refugees and ensure that each refugee can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge, locally or somewhere else. Airman Nduli's family's plan was to come to the United States. Once they arrived in the United States, Ms. Nduli planned to open up her home to them in New York, where she lives now. But the organization lost the family's paperwork. "When we went to their office to confront them, the head of the office actually left out the back door that's how badly they had messed up," Airman Nduli said. The family was put in a new refugee program, the International Organization for Migration, with the hope that they would soon have a way out of Kenya. In the meantime. Airman Nduli made sure her two sisters and mother began preparing for a life in the United States. The Ndulis enrolled the mother and sisters in English schools Ikran went to a boarding school outside of well-bein- camp, while Ifrah and Mrs. Sherwac attended school inside the camp. Though it was a step toward a better future, they still could not escape the violence around them. Airman Nduli's sister Ifrah was raped in the camp. Nine months later, she gave birth to a CHANGING I, A CONDITIONS HAVE son. "I know there are horrible things that go on in those camps. I just want to get them out of there," Airman Nduli ALWAYS said. "I wish I was there with them, but I know everything happens for a reason and my being adopted will make it possible for them to have a better life." But for now, the new refugee program is proving to be as ineffective as the first, she said. Officials told the Ndulis in July 2003 that the family would be arriving in October, but it did not happen. Chris Lorn, an information officer at organization's headquarters in Switzerland, offered the explanation that the delay was due to the "incredibly complicated" process for getting refugees into the United States since Sept. 1 1 . "There have been huge delays and many people who have been (in the camp) have been there for several years," he said. He did not elaborate fur- BEEN OUR , ; I :'. .. Northrop Grumman Technical Services Corporation is seeking qualified personnel for employment in the OgdenHill Air Force Base area based on contract award. Candidates are being sought in the following categories: Aerospace Mechanical Engineer ProcessLogistics Engineer ther. Airman Nduli still waits. "It's been almost a year. I just wish I knew how much longer we have to wait," she Information Technology Support Quality Manager said. "There would be no more calls from my mother, where I don't understand her and don't understand if anything is wrong or not. It would mean my sisters and my nephew could have some of the opportunities I have had. It would mean for the first time in years, I could sleep peacefully knowing my family was safe." (Courtesy of ACC News) middle-of-the-nig- ht (mrnmmmummmm Quality Inspector Tool Crib tl I Expeditor Administrative Support Northrop Grumman compensation and and iRi Supervisor Tool Crib Attendant Interested? WiTiTli IA SPECIALTY. f a features comprehensive indicate Please send your resume to: competitive benefits of position(s) Northrop plan. interest Grumman Electronic Systems, National Resume Processing Center, P.O. Box 367, Burlington, MA 01803 or email: ElectronicSystems.Careersngc.com Please cite "Source Code: TSCUT0504" in the "Subject:" line of any correspondence. Candidates selected will be subject to security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classifiedrequired information. An Equal Opportunity Employer, MFDV NORTHROR GRUMMAN Defining the future' Electronic Systems mmm t northropgnimman.com 2804 Norflirap GramHM CocporatiM 1?--- - I |