A New Hero

Many of you have heard about a new friend in my life. His name is Jamal Kadir Bokolo. He and his family are from the country of Ethiopia and immigrated on August 31st after spending 13 years in a refugee camp in Djibouti, a neighboring country. He is an amazing person as is his wife, Amina.

I met Jamal coincidentally when walking my two small dogs with my daughter. He jumped out of the way of my tiny canines, unsure whether they would bite. When he asked about them in his characteristic accent, it gave me opportunity to ask about his origins and learn that his country only kept dogs to guard against hyenas and were evidently large breeds. In later conversations, he referred to these dogs as German--evidently, German Shepherds! Quite a different view than what stood before him on that serendipitous walk. To this day, he seems confused my dogs are not puppies, but full grown adults. One day, I have determined, we will visit the local dog park, so he can see just how many canine breeds exist in our world!

Thanks to the generous support of my church, Jamal was provided with lots of clothing, kitchen supplies, a dresser, laptop computer and printer. In addition, his children had a wild, wrapper tearing holiday season in honor of our Christmas. A first for a Muslim family with no orientation toward our great giveaway. For children without access to books, toys and movies, it was a grand time to watch! I felt honored to be our church's ambassador. The movies did and continue to be a source of unending amusement and imagination for these three youngsters; they always make comments about how it is the animals are talking. Animals never talked in Djibouti, Africa!

Several months after our initial meeting and hours spent listening to Jamal, I continue to be amazed at his process of adjustment and thrill at the ability to see things through his eyes. During one of our '3 cups of tea' meetings, (there is no such thing as casually dropping anything off at his house) actually consisting of a full Ethiopian spread of food and coffee, I was greatly amused at hearing his experience at getting the good, old-fashioned, American bureaucratic run around. The recounting of this amused me and hence, his elevation to the status of hero, particularly to his family.

Jamal was always anxious to get to the time when he could 'stand on his own 2 feet' as he put it. World Relief, his sponsor, was able to enroll him at Highline Community College for extended English and cultural studies. They were only able to provide this for one member of the family. I encouraged him not to rush through or quit school for a minimum wage job in his quest for independence. The opportunity to improve his spoken English and understand this culture was a gift that could lead to better pay in the long-term. In my mind, Jamal was capable of doing translation with a little further training; he speaks Orromo, Somolian, Arabic, Russian and English. I didn't want to see him be stuck doing janitorial work with such potential. I took him to Worksource, hoping they could give him some guidance.

Worksource evidently referred him to the Track Association, from how I understand it. It was supposed to provide him with some vocational training and job leads. When he went to Track Association, they told him that World Relief must sponsor his enrollment in the program. He went to the World Relief office and they told him that he must be sponsored by DSHS. He went to DSHS and they told him that World Relief must sponsor him--mind you he does not have a car and it is the rainy season! He went back to the Track Association and the contact there was extremely rude to him.

Jamal spelled out his problem with the upcoming gap between rent due and DSHS support to the rude attendee. He said, 'You people come to Africa ALL THE TIME to help us, but I am here NOW and in front of you' and cannot get help! Knowing him, I am sure this was said calmly and with assurance. Now here is the funny part. He was accepted into the Track Association's program and will be interviewing on Thursday for a possible position at the airport 1 day a week that within 6 months will turn into a full time job assisting non-English speaking people filling out applications in Human Resources. In addition, his wife now has sponsorship to learn English and a vocation at Highline Community College. Because of his persistence in knocking down doors, Amina will now have opportunity previously closed to her. I have not been able to speak to Amina except through hand signals, but her smile could light up a room. I am thrilled she will be able to move ahead along we her husband as a team.

He is a hero indeed...

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