:Author:   Lisa Goldner
:Date:     Wed, 05 Mar 2008 22:31:22 PST

Hi! I'm trying to get caught up on the posts.  The past few weeks my family's been busy helping Catholic Charities with the two Darfuri families they are sponsoring.  The families arrived through a U.N. program after the past three years spent in Krisan Camp, Ghana.    

My son, Jeffrey, is on the staff of the University of Texas San Antonio's (UTSA) newspaper, "The Independent."  On one of our visits with one of these families, Jeff asked if they wanted to be interviewed for a newspaper article to tell their story of how they came to the U.S.  This is the first interview which gives their account of their family's ordeal with Sudanese military troops and the Janjaweed, their dangerous journey to Ghana, three years in a refugee camp, their arrival in San Antonio, and hopes for the future.     

Click here: The Independent UTSA 
http://media.www.theindependentutsa.com/media/storage/paper1093/news/2008/02/18/Features/Darfur.Refugees.In.San.Antonio-3201008.shtml

All of the school-age children have recently started school, the parents are taking ESL classes, and they will be securing jobs as soon as their Social Security numbers are processed.  They have all faced many changes and learned a great deal in these first few weeks in the U.S.  With immense gratitude, they repeatedly tell those of us who are assisting them that it is best to take things "shweyyah shweyyah," little by little . . . step by step.  We all must take time to absorb what we are learning from one another.  

Salaam