Nirmala Rai remembers the day she arrived in Fargo from a refugee camp in Nepal. It was Nov. 11, 2011. She remembers the yellow and orange leaves, and it feeling so cold outside that she thought she would throw up. In a short story she wrote this past semester for class at Fargo South High…
Every refugee who resettles in Fargo-Moorhead makes the same first stop on their journey to become a part of the community: Lutheran Social Services. But that’s not where it ends. There are many stops New Americans can make to receive support so that assimilating to life in Fargo-Moorhead is a bit easier. Lutheran Social Services…
“We all want community, Chris. Stop spreading hatred,” Hunkun Abdullahi said. On Dec. 4, 2015, Chris Berg, host of KVLY’s “Point of View” had an intense discussion with two guests. Abdullahi is the Executive Director of the Afro American Development Association of Moorhead, Minn. Berg’s second guest was AADA’s program director Hamida Dakune. Dakune and…
In one day, Chandra Acharya saw 75 people die and be cremated by the riverside at Beldangi II refugee camp, in Maidhar, Nepal, “Kids, older folks, all because of dysentery and diarrhea from the dirty river,” Acharya said. Several years later, Acharya is now living in Fargo, where he works at Family HealthCare Center part…
Identifying angst about refugee resettlement Walking into LSS these days isn’t as simple as stepping into the lobby, strolling down the hall and knocking on doors. Resembling the visitation process of public schools, walkins must check into the front desk, stating their business or appointment. For the remainder of their time there, they must also…
Each month in Fargo-Moorhead and around the country, New Americans gather at naturalization ceremonies to be sworn in as new citizens of the United States. The process of becoming a citizen takes a minimum of one year’s time to complete from the time it takes to apply, go through background checks, study, and take the test itself. Citizens-in-training are given…
Growing more than veggies It’s early February, the ground is covered in sticky-wet snow and the streets are sloppy from a week of 40-degree temperatures. This weather is unseasonably warm for the majority of the Fargo-Moorhead population. But for New Americans Zainab Alsudani and Alyaa Luaibi, Fargo is still chilly and they long for the…
LSS helps refugees secure jobs Kawa Hawari goes to work every day and meets with people from all over the world. He listens to these peoples’ stories about their families, friends, future aspirations, the journey to the United States, and past work experience. He works with people just like him, refugees, people who have packed…
At one o’clock on Friday afternoons, the room begins to fill with bodies – a kaleidoscope of colors. Turquoise, magenta, cerulean and violet peppered with the occasional leopard spot or zebra stripe. Each woman is wearing her own interpretation of a covering. It varies with every culture, and in this room there are many. Some…
Fowzia Adde is at work in her office in the Townsite Center in Moorhead. Every minute, it seems, a bing from her computer indicates the arrival of another email—from businesses seeking funds from her organization, groups inviting her to conferences on gender equality and female empowerment, an elderly relative asking for help coming to America….