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Show & ra t i 11 Turkish refugees wave their flag during one of Salt Lake Citys World Refugee Days. This years celebration will take place on June 6 in liberty Park from to a.m. to 4 p.m. Association of Utah. After one year, refugees can apply for resident status and receive a green card. After five years, they can apply for citizenship. Solomon is from South Sudan as are many others who were resettled in Utah along with him. His family was not among them. 1 t I j ! He was by himself in Kenya and Ethiopia. Some of his family was internally displaced near the border of Uganda. His mother and one of his sisters are currently in Kenya and another of his sisters remains in South Sudan. In 2007, Solomon returned to Kenya to bring his mother there for safety reasons. He explained that his entire family depends on him for support. His niece and nephews attend school in Kenya and Solomon supports their ris F f i education. In our life before the war, there is no school in my village so school was for elites and a few individuals, Solomon said. He explains that being displaced and being a refugee in another country, he recognizes the importance of getting an education and therefore sponsors family members back home to pursue academics, as they would not be able to afford it on their own. Solomon graduated from Westminster College in 2007 and in 2008, returned to Sudan . where he met his wife in the village where his mom and sister were located. He married in Sudan, returned to the U.S. alone and worked for another eleven months to bring his wife overseas to join him. Because his wife was not displaced like Solomon, she and their children do not have refugee status. Solomon described his experience as a refugee in the U.S as being like any other, yet compared to the struggle of some of his other friends, he said his went much smoother. The way of life here is totally different. It was a shock to suddenly be immersed into this culture and it was a struggle for the first few months and years to adjust into the system. Im not understanding English well, Im not used to computers, transportation systems. You need to go shopping, see the doctor, find a job, and you dont have reliable transportation. Rachel Sanders, family liaison manager at Promise South Salt Lake, has been working with refugees from similar backgrounds as Solomon for the past three years. I do a lot of coordinating, meeting with providers and community organizations to bring reality to the services that we have that maybe arent as reachable or accessible to our residents, she said. We are cast with empowering the family, finding their strengths and helping them put out fires. In her experience working with refugee families, Sanders said their resettlement can be overwhelming and very different than they imagined. The houses they move into dont look like the houses they see on TV, Sanders said. Their lives dont resemble what they see on TV. They see images that are not accurate of what its like to live here. In addition to learning simple tasks such as turning a stove on or going grocery shopping, cultural barriers cause many of the challenges faced by refugees. Sanders said parenting styles of refugees can become problematic in America. In the African culture its considered disrespectful to approach a childs teacher. In our country thats called parent involvement, Sanders said. Having people recognize its a cultural thing and not a lack of investment can be challenging. Solomon spoke of similar challenges he faced upon coming to America. I had to be open to new ideas and new ways of fife, Solomon said. The way I live here may not be the same way I live in South Sudan because thats a different culture. Keep your culture, but let them not be a barrier to your success. Sanders also acknowledged the difficulty of learning English and the struggle this barrier causes for so many refugees. For Solomon, this was a challenge along with the fear he had of what other people thought about him. You are in a neighborhood and you dont know people and people dont know you. People become suspicious. Solomon said he was lucky because of the friends he met through volunteers, coworkers and classmates. At the time, the story of the Lost Boys of Sudan went national and when people heard he was one of them, they wanted to hear about it. When people are welcoming to you, you will become friends, he said. They walked hundreds of miles. Their feet became one with the earth, their eyes familiar with the landscape of exhaustion that claimed so many of those they walked beside. Struggling together, having nothing, being able to share the small food, seeing a lot of your friends dying and sometimes burying them, Solomon said. It was difficult. Solomon still keeps in touch with many of the Lost Boys living in the Utah valley. Only a few remain from the 27,000 that started the journey on foot. This number fell to 16,000 because of war conflicts along the way. Only 4,000 made it to the United States and 115 to Utah. As a refugee, one doesnt have a choice of where to go. Wherever they are placed they can either stay if they like it or leave if they dont. Solomon has been content with his placement in Utah. I have come to know Utah is one of the places that is putting more energy into helping refugees succeed, he said. Solomon was able to attend higher education, yet this opportunity isnt always available in other resettlement areas. He explained some of the other lost boys wanted to attend school, yet were required to have a GED. For Utah, that isnt the case, Solomon said. For six months, refugees remain with resettlement agencies and then after this, the state will support them until they are sufficiently settled. You dont see that in other states at least from what I know now as I talk to my friends, Solomon said. Solomon described Utah as welcoming, peaceful, having a low crime rate and maintaining one of the strongest economies t in the nation. According to Rachel Sanders, family liaison manager at Promise South Salt Lake, Utah has the space and culture to accommodate such an influx of refugees. The culture in Utah is very much into volunteerism and charity, Sanders said. In Utah, unemployment is not an issue so weve been able to have refugees continue to flow in. To recognize the large refugee population in Utah and acknowledge their endured struggles and diverse cultures, Utah sets aside a day of celebration complete with entertainment, global markets, speeches and soccer games. Solomon currently works as a job developer at the Department of Workforce Services for the state of Utah and assists with marketing for the event. He will be sitting at a booth during the festivities to discuss services offered to refugees. Utahs celebration will take place on June 6 at Liberty Park from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. In between eating samosas and kisera, Solomons favorite food from Sudan, be sure to stop by and pay him a visit. I I t t r I i |