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As many as 140 of the refugees will be children, potentially creating a unique challenge for local school systems.
By Lisa Applegate, Tuesday, January 13, 2004
A mother and her three children - the first of 200 Somali Bantu refugees to resettle in Southwest Virginia this year - will arrive Jan. 21 at Roanoke Regional Airport.
The Bantu, who have spent the past decade in camps in neighboring Kenya, will be one of the largest single-ethnic groups ever handled by Roanoke's Refugee and Immigration Services.
Some of the refugees may be placed in Lynchburg or Blacksburg, but the majority will live in Roanoke.
The Bantu will be arriving over the next 10 months and include large families with an unusually high number of children, said Regional Director Barbara Smith. As many as 140 of the refugees will be children.
In 2000, the U.S. government agreed to resettle some Bantu, but the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001 and subsequent security concerns slowed the process.
The Bantu are the latest in a growing number of displaced Africans to be resettled in the United States. Many of the "Lost Boys of Sudan" - who endured lion and military attacks while walking thousands of miles to safety - were welcomed in cities such as Roanoke in recent years.
Like the Sudanese, the Bantu have struggled to survive during lengthy civil wars and in dangerous refugee camps. Those who arrive in the United States must adjust to modern life quickly, from mastering appliances to learning job skills other than traditional farming.
A United Nations report found the Bantu also will have to overcome centuries of persecution. Originally brought as slaves from Tanzania and Mozambique, the Bantu - whose physical features are distinctly different from most Somalis - were treated as second-class citizens who could not attend school or hold certain jobs.
In 1991, when Somalia's government fell and civil war ensued, the Bantu's villages were ransacked and their farms overtaken. Many fled to refugee camps in the harsh Northern territory of Kenya, where the Bantu still faced the risk of rape or attack from other tribes in the camps.
Less than a quarter of Bantu are thought to be literate, posing a particular challenge to school systems in the area.
"I don't view it as a burden," said Roanoke school Superintendent Wayne Harris, who had advised the Roanoke School Board in December about the upcoming arrivals. "It adds a richness to the entire culture."
Still, some teachers of English Language Learners - what used to be known as English as a Second Language - have already spoken out about tough teaching conditions in the growing program. Last fall, a handful of teachers told the school board they worked in c amped spaces with children who require extensive help and discipline.
Harris said administrators are looking at classroom space and teacher allocation to decide how best to place the Bantu children. He said they would wait to consider hiring more teachers until the students start to arrive.
The school system also is considering the use of a free training program from the Spring Institute, a Colorado-based agency that educates teachers about refugees, especially ones who are "pre-literate."
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