Willing and Able

Refugees and the Workforce

Freedom

Syracuse, NY- February 19, 2009 Francis Murabi is one of around 500 refugees that have come to Syracuse in the past year to make a home. Refugees leave their homeland in search of freedom. A major benefit of the freedom they find here is the ability to work and support their families.

However many refugees, like many Americans, are losing their jobs because of the economy. Francis is now one of those without a job and a family of ten to feed.

Reflections of Home

Francis had been working in the cider mill at the Beak and Skiff Apple Orchard in La Fayette. He has been laid off for the winter. He says he loved working there because it reminded him of working with plants in Africa.

Although Francis does have fond memories of life in Africa, he faced many struggles before coming to America.

Francis grew up moving from refugee camp to refugee camp in East Africa. Originally from the small country of Burundi, Francis fled civil war between his tribe the Hutus and rival tribe the Tutsis. About 250,000 people died in this horrific fighting.

“Life in a refugee camp is a big, big problem, because if you are a refugee, you don’t have any rights. Here I am very, very free,” said Francis.

The adversity he has faced makes him all the more grateful for opportunities here.

Helping Hands

Catholic Charities helps settle many of the refugees in Syracuse. They find and clean up apartments for families to live in when they arrive. They act as the go between for refugees and potential employers in the community. Volunteers help connect refugees with services like food stamps, public assistance and ESL classes.

Francis has a wife, eight children and his mother and father to look after. Volunteers like Harvey Pinyoun are part of the support system that Catholic Charities provides.

“You want them to have the best beginning they can possibly have. So that’s what we’re trying to do,” said Pinyoun.

Commitment

Pinyoun said many refugees, like Francis, have large families to care for. Three of Francis’ children are orphans who lost their parents in the camps. Pinyoun said their perseverance and commitment to one another is admirable.

“They take care of each other and they make it. They do without, they do without extras that a lot of us live with,” said Pinyoun.

Francis is hoping for his job back at the apple orchard in the spring. In the meantime he will wait, he has made it this far.