Colorado African Organization Opens Its New Home to the Community
Posted by metroafrican on Jan 23, 2010 in Featured • No comments
At last Friday’s open house the new offices of Colorado African Organization were packed wall to wall with members of the community celebrating the move to the space. Today, a story about the open house by Tina Griego was published by the Denver Post.
Waiting to greet you is Ndayishimiye Emmanuel of Burundi, who arrived here Sept. 24, 2007.
He is a 23-year-old who grew up in refugee camps and who speaks English, Kirundi, French and Swahili. He is dressed in a suit, and when you visit the office several days later, he will be equally dapper, his dress shoes polished to a high sheen.
“My parents want me to dress like someone who is wise,” he will say, blushing. “I want to show I am on the right path.”
Griego asked CAO Executive Director Kit Taintor about the differences between those who adapt with ease and those who do not:
Language skills, education, Taintor says. The younger refugee integrates faster, with less friction. Think of this, she says: You have spent many years establishing yourself and your career and then you must start over in a refugee camp where you may spend years seeking safe haven. You arrive, finally, in that place and must start yet again.
You are an ophthalmologist now making hotel beds. You are a math teacher driving a cab.
Griego also writes about Adrien Mangituka, a case manager working with the Colorado African Organization:
He is originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He’s fluent in six languages, has a law degree, certification in auto mechanics and computer programming. I last saw him last four years ago. He was going to apply at a downtown hotel as a busboy.
…
A busboy? I remember asking Mangituka in 2006. “How I begin again does not matter,” he replied.A refugee who comes to this country does not escape hardship. He or she finds only a different version of it, and this version may last years.
Mangituka did not become a busboy. In the past four years, he has worked as a manager in a second-hand store. He worked in a gas station/convenience store. He worked as an interpreter. He went to school to become a nurse’s aide. He moved to Colorado Springs and became a case manager for a refugee resettlement agency. He drove a limo. He cleaned cars for a rental chain and then was promoted to customer service, which he still does when he is not helping other Africans find a way to succeed in Colorado.
…
I ask him later what advice he tries to impart to his clients, and he says: “No matter what, there is always a way out. Look back to your past, but do not dwell there. Look to where you were, where you are and where you want to be.”He talks about taking more college classes, about working one day in the medical field. Mangituka is 42 years old, a man with big plans.
You can read the full story here: Griego: African refugee newcomers get help settling in Denver area
To get involved with Colorado African Organization call them at 303.953.7060, find them online at www.caoden.org, or visit them at their new office at 6795 E Tennesee Avenue, Suite 250 in Denver.
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