Our Latest Refugee Family!

Florentine and Tchadrak are our latest addition to the refugee resettlement project and we are helping them acclimate to American life. We don’t know much about their background, here is what we do know:

 Florentine speaks French and is originally from Rwanda. Tchadrak speaks French and Swahili and is  from the Congo. They came to the United States six weeks ago with the help of the Ethiopian Community Association of Chicago. They live in a very small studio apartment in Rogers Park. Florentine was a school teacher for 8-10 year olds, Tchadrak owned a “mini market”, selling milk and groceries. They attend English classes at the Ethiopian Community Center and, this week, started working at the United Club Lounge at the airport. 

We are helping them improve their English skills, we have provided clothing and bedding for them, taken them to the grocery store and introduced them to American foods. We will help them learn computer skills using the computers at the local library branch.

They need a twin size air mattress and a set of twin size sheets.

From the Congo to Chicaog all via the Computer!

With much delight, Makanja applied for and received a Chicago library card today. He was so pleased as he realizes it will open some doorways for him. His first request was to learn to use a computer. 

Although he found the "mouse" a bit tricky at first, he soon caught on. We roamed the internet. We saw photos of the Tanzanian Refugee Camp where he lived and through the photos, he explained the camp to us. We saw the Congolese village of his birth. It is beautiful; the terrain is amazing, it's both hilly and flat. He showed us the lake that the Congolese need to cross over to escape to Tanzania when there is a war.  He found a photo of one of his paternal uncles and a cousin who still live in "Fizzi Town", in the Congo. 

We're not sure what moved Makanja more today, for once, being our teacher or seeing his birth country and the refugee camp he only left only 4 months ago.

When we asked, he told us that he misses the many people that he left behind, but he is so proud to be in America and hopes his remaining family will also be able to come.

Jackie and Gary Cohen

Who eats chocolate in the Congo? Read on!

Sunday evening 7/30/17: Brad and I drove to Albany Park to drop off some items that Marcie had left for them. We were welcomed by Makandja who introduced us to three friends.  One was a young lady from their camp named Abby who was sitting still at the kitchen table as Bobasha skillfully attached curly hair extensions to Abby’s hair.  The other young men listened to Congolese music while chatting. There was a clear sense of happiness and camaraderie, and …the apartment was  quite clean!  (Thanks to Jackie and Gary who have worked miracles. ) We asked if they had dinner, and when they said they hadn’t, we decided to take them to a Taco restaurant in Albany Park called T&B ( tacos and burgers). While there, we practiced ordering food, Bwya, Makandja, Bobasha had never tried Tacos. I showed them recipes and pictures, and hope to cook with them in the near future.  An assortment of chicken, vegetarian and fish tacos were brought to the table, as well as cheese burgers ordered by Makandja and Bobasha.  Everyone sampled the different choices but it was clear that the all time favorite food was guacamole and chips as well as

french fries.  As much as we love our Chocolate, it is not high on the list with our Congolese friends. Ruti, who joined us for dessert, explained that adults don’t eat chocolate in Congo, only children.  (There’s a little tidbit we didn’t know before!)

New experiences in a new place!

Today's visit with Bobasha and Makandja was jam packed. We started out discussing American currency. The lesson was a review for Makandja, and a fun initiation for Bobasha. They seemed to take a lot of pleasure identifying coins and paper money and doing the math for some mock purchases and trying to stump their teachers.

Gary demonstrated to the men when and how to use deodorant. Both Makandja and Bobasha have small neatly trimmed beards, and aren't too interested in shaving, but they got a kick out of learning about shaving cream and razors.

The four of us spent time cleaning the kitchen. Makandja started calling me "mom", when I insisted the entire kitchen be cleaned. (Seems like Bobasha and his attitude towards cleaning is like most young men with their first apartment.)

Going grocery shopping was our next adventure. Fresh fruit is very high on their list, as is meat and fish. The cashier at the store was fascinated by the men and went out of his way to accommodate them.