Omaha's Sudanese benefit from assistance program
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By JEAN ORTIZ
OMAHA - Abelino, Samuel, Dorth and Bediet are among those who welcome a resolute nun into their homes every week as she makes her way through their community.
Each Sunday, Joan Mueller packs her car with diapers, books, educational flash cards and other items she thinks will help the Sudanese refugees who have settled in Omaha.
Once she reaches the doorsteps of the low-income apartments or rental homes she visits, Mueller uses a special knock to alert her hosts to her arrival - five raps in quick succession, followed by two more.
"It's Sister Joan," the petite, soft-spoken woman says, projecting her voice into the homes.
After nearly two years of working with Sudanese refugees, Mueller is seeing the fruits of her labor in a more financially secure and educated people. And those who have volunteered to help Mueller's Project Welcome refugee assistance program say they now have a new perspective and a sense of accomplishment.
"We're not a business," Mueller said. "We're not creating an institution; we're just responding to a need."
A civil war in Sudan spanning two decades has displaced more than 4 million people and has left an estimated 2 million dead, according to the U.S. Committee for Refugees. Some 21,000 Sudanese have been admitted into the United States for permanent resettlement since 1991, according to the State Department.
The refugees have found their way to many parts of the country, and the prospect of good-paying jobs at meatpacking plants first lured the refugees to Nebraska in 1997.
Nebraska Health and Human Services estimates some 2,600 Sudanese refugees have found their way to the state, with the largest groups settling in Lincoln and Omaha. Norfolk, Grand Island, Columbus and Fremont are also among the communities with notable Sudanese populations.
Mueller and Guk Rut, who works for the Southern Sudan Community Association, say the number of Sudanese living in Omaha alone has risen to between 5,000 and 6,000 in recent years.
Mueller, a professor of theology at Creighton University, started Project Welcome in late 2002 after seeing a photo of a Sudanese community food bank in a local publication and realizing there was a need.
Project Welcome is based at Immaculate Conception Church, although it doesn't have any office space. An office is something the group can't afford, but Mueller doesn't mind because she prefers to be out and about reaching those in need.
An estimated $100,000 in donations and $50,000 in grants has helped sustain the entirely volunteer program.
While Sunday is the designated day for visits, Mueller spends other days of the week driving people to appointments, writing grant proposals and making calls to volunteers who donate legal services, dental work and tutoring, among other things.
Mueller says at least 400 people have helped Project Welcome over the years.
Sean Bradley, an attorney with Nebraska Legal Services, has volunteered his services for a child custody dispute case. He's now working to make the agency, which provides legal assistance to low-income people, more accessible to refugees.
He said his involvement in the program has helped him find a new perspective.
"It's reinforced my ideas about what it means to be ... a person living in America," he said.
Janine ter Kuile volunteers several hours a week by tutoring children or taking them on field trips or to swimming lessons.
"The greatest reward is making a difference in their lives, and giving them something to ... strive for, to achieve later on in life," she said.
In addition to emphasizing education and family stability, Mueller encourages children to pursue their dreams.
Samuel Rocu, 7, who came to Omaha with his parents, Abelino and Rebecca, and five siblings in January, said he wants to be a pilot when he grows up. Mueller tells Samuel that he'll need some good math skills.
Sitting in the family's rental home, he holds his partially clenched hand to his mouth as Mueller quizzes him on his addition. With each card she shows him, Samuel works his fingers and moves his lips in search of a correct answer.
Mueller and her volunteers also hold a twice-a-week summer school for extra lessons in subjects such as math and vocabulary. Most of the children now are performing at grade level or above in both subjects, Mueller said.
The children's parents are making progress, too.
James Gouk, 43, who customizes window treatments for a living, recently became a sworn U.S. citizen after arriving in Omaha in 1998. He now owns a three-bedroom home and says being a sworn citizen will make him eligible for more jobs.
"God brought us someone to give us support," he said of Mueller.
Gouk is thankful for the opportunity to give his six children, including Bediet and Dorth - twin toddlers born in America - a better life.
"I want them to be good Catholic-Christians," he said. "I want them to be intellectual people."
Gouk is considering going back to Sudan with his wife if peace is established, but he wants his children to remain in the United States.
Mueller said other refugees she works with occasionally talk about returning to Sudan, but knowing the hardship they will face makes that unlikely.
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