Day 186 - An Unfinished Story, Part II

Nasser in 2011

My friend Nasser,who left his home in Eritrea more than five years ago and has remained separated from his wife and children for all that time, has reason now to celebrate. His wife his four children arrived in Syracuse, New York, at the end of July. Nasser is blind, so he won't be able to see how much his children have grown since he was last with them. But he will know. Unfortunately, his nephew, Tekelu, who was part of the Asmara soccer team I sponsored during my four months in that city, who considers Nasser as his adoptive father, was not able to come with the rest of the family. Tekelu was 13 or 14 when I met him in 2004. When he reached the final year of high school in Eritrea, he had to go with his classmates for military training. The Eritrean government requires military service of all its youth, with the conscription coming down most heavily on the boys. The "draft" in Eritrea is not the orderly process we think of in the west. In

Tekelu in 2004

Eritrea, boys and young men were rounded up in the middle of the night or as they walked down the street. It made little difference whether they were younger than the minimum age or older than the maximum age. It only mattered that those doing the rounding up thought they looked the right age. It also didn't matter that the draftees had already completed their military service. The Eritrean military didn't provide certificates of demobilization at the end of a young man's military service. They kept their options open, waiting for years to see if it would be necessary to bring back young men who were still young and fit enough to serve.

Nasser has been in Syracuse for more than two years. He hasn't been able to continue his university studies. He had hoped to get his doctorate in education. Instead he has been able to survive by doing interpretation for other Eritreans at medical appointments. I suspect this hasn't been all that rewarding, but Nasser has a long history of adapting to what life hands him, never giving up, never giving in, always looking forward, planning how to improve his circumstances.

History says success for him will be difficult. But Nasser is an exceptional man.

When I lived in Berkeley in the early 70's, I worked for a pastor who was very interested in the experience of immigrants because of the large population of recent immigrants from Finland in Berkeley. He loaned me a book written by published authors from 12 different nationalities about their families' experiences. The Italian story, for example, was written by Mario Puzo of The Godfather fame.  Of the 12, only one was a success story within the first generation. In all the other cases, success waited for the second or third generation.

In general, I think the chances for success among legal immigrants to the United States in the first generation have improved. I have only anecdotal evidence to support this conclusion. The two immigrants I know well enough to report observations of, one from Romania and one from Moldova, are both unequivocably successes. I suspect my observations are typical of changes in the assimilation and success rate of immigrants since the mid 20th century.

But Nasser and his family are refugees. Both Nasser and his wife are blind. They both speak Engish. And they are both university graduates. But they are refugees, not immigrants. While I could not locate statistics about the success rates or assimilation of refugees, the few personal experiences I have with refugees are not such happy endings. The hope for refugees now is what I believe the hope for immigrants was 50 years ago - that life for their children will be better, that their children will experience success while the parents can only dream. But I am hopeful that Nasser's determination will continue, that his reunification with his family will bring them all stability that will hopefully make success less of a reach.

I would love to see Nasser's children as they adjust to life in upstate New York with its lake-effect snow in the winter and the surrounding lakes and green mountains in place of the dry, desert heat of Eritrea where the winters only get cold enough that a jacket is a good accessory in the evening. They won't be the only children from the Horn of Africa in Syracuse. In early 2011, shortly after Nasser arrived in Syracuse, there were about 600 refugees being settled there each year and there were 60 Eritrean families in Syracuse.

I believe meeting Nasser was the reason I went to Africa. I felt the entire time I was getting ready for the assignment and the entire time I spent on that continent that there was a purpose. I met Nasser in my last week in Asmara. It was as though in meeting him, I had accomplished what I was meant to do, making my early departure from Africa (I had planned to be there two years but left after 9 months) the right time.

I hope that before I end my 365 Project, I will have Part III to add to Nasser's story.