African students build a new life in Moses Lake

Job Corps provides a training ground for emigrants

They carry a different lightness on their shoulders.

This is Kenneth Coleman's first observation about the 14 African students living and attending classes on the Columbia Basin Job Corps campus in Moses Lake.

Coleman, 20, is from Portland, Ore. and knows what it's like to live away from home. But he's not as far away from home as his roommate Dahir Haji, originally from the war-torn country of Somalia.

"People are hustling to get through daily life," Haji said. "That's a factor."

If anyone has a bird's-eye view and true understanding of Haji's true spirit, it's Coleman.

According to Coleman, Haji prays every morning and appears to be an accurate representation of the group as a whole. The group, Coleman explained, is a happy one, possessing a certain composure. They don't strive for popularity, either, he added.

"I've learned how to carry and compose myself," Coleman said. Now, the 20-year-old said he is content and grateful for what he has.

Haji is only one of the Africans living at job corps. The other students, a mix of young men and women ranging from their late teens to mid-20s, are from the countries of Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia.

The remaining students — James Akook, David Bol, Habtamu Chalka, Monliza Chalka, Woinishet Chalka, Santino Dut, Ermias Felleke, David Giel, Paul Guet, Tewabe Kassie, Kasahun Mengesha, Omar Osman and Yonas Teshale — are in America because of the luck of the draw.

The group ended up in Washington state because of the home bases of their immigration and humanitarian officials back in Africa.

Overall, the group has been in this country from a few years to under a year. The events of their lives are like an epic movie or trilogy of books, with a ton of information, but not easily or quickly pieced together.

Tom Zender, center director for job corps, found this out when some of the students arrived in Moses Lake earlier this year.

Some of the students came from countries that don't use the Gregorian calender. Zender couldn't immediately find out their correct ages and from the information available, thought the students were 6 years older than their original ages.

But that occurrence is just a small piece of what Zender has noticed about these students.

"They are fantastic," Zender said. "They know the meaning of hard work and being grateful for the basic necessities of life we all take for granted."

With that attitude, the group is obviously an easy one, with no discipline issues or problems whatsoever, Zender said.

After listening to one of the student's stories, the simple but essential factors of an intact family and safe environment come into play.

James Akook, 23, is enrolled in the job corps pharmacy technician program. He is from Sudan and came to America through a United Nations program.

In 1987, Akook estimates, war broke out in southern Sudan.

Akook was attending a Catholic missionary school, studying to be a priest. The school was destroyed and at the time, his parents were living in another area of Sudan. As a result, he was separated from his parents.

With a group of other refugees, Akook walked to safety in Ethiopia, in what turned out to be a six-month journey.

He was only 6 at the time.

Fortunately, some people in the group knew the way. The trip was met with hardship, but at the same time, an amazement of the natural surroundings. During the trip, Akook said that the sight of antelope was common.

"They were all over," Akook recalled.

Although a UNICEF program did supply the group with rice and beans at times, there were periods when there was little or no food. Along the way, people died from lack of medical attention or pre-existing conditions, Akook explained.

The group did most of its walking at night, when the temperature dropped to a more manageable level. They even crossed the vast Sahara Desert between Sudan and Ethiopia.

Between the time of traveling and drifting, Akook worked in Kenya and Somalia as a medical assistant. Eventually, he came to the United States and joined his aunt in Bellevue, Wash. He knows where his mother lives in Africa, but hasn't had recent contact with his father. Understandably, he's battled homesickness, not to mention having to face the world alone at a very young age.

But Akook is grateful for his new life and can find the good in the little things. He's appreciative of job corps and named residence hall staff member Jim O'Donnell as a positive aspect of his life.

"He's a good guy," Akook said

Akook is also cognizant of the opportunities job corps has provided for him.

"This is an awesome program," Akook said. "It's so helpful for us."

Today, Akook has been in the country for a little over a year. He hopes to transfer the credits he earned at Big Bend Community College to Bellevue Community College.

But as grateful as Akook and the other students are for their new lives, there are still adjustments to make. For some, learning a new language was an ordeal and requires constant improvement. For others, a new culture presented different scenarios.

Each student has a different goal.

David Giel, 24, is from Sudan and said that although he did learn a small amount of English in school, communication has turned out to be his biggest adjustment.

Ermias Felleke, 22, is from Ethiopia. Felleke has been in Moses Lake for three weeks and in this country for 12 weeks.

Felleke is enrolled in the pharmacy program. Before he left Ethiopia, he studied plant science at Alemaya University in Dredwa, Ethiopia. He hopes to go on to a college or university in this country.

Haji said he plans to apply for his U.S. citizenship. In the meantime, though, all the students are still citizens of their countries of origin.

Pharmacy instructor Micki Stanhope sees a small group of the African students regularly at job corps through the pharmacy program. She notices the difference between how the American students and African students perceive aspects of their lives.

At job corps, most of the students live on campus in residence halls. The residence hall students have a process called dorm court, where they offer certain residents tips for personal and academic improvement.

Stanhope said that it's interesting to see how African residents explain dorm court, as opposed to how the Americans explain it. The Africans see it as a privilege to voice their opinions, even though the process is for the unflinching area of self-improvement.

"It's totally different," Stanhope said about both groups' perceptions.

Shawn Needham, a pharmacist at the Moses Lake Professional Pharmacy, has high praise for the pharmacy students who earn their on-the-job hours at his business.

The students — David Bol, Akook and Haji — have some of the best work ethic Needham said he's ever seen, both in young adults and adults. The young men practice compounding, filling prescriptions and checking orders.

"They love to work," Needham said. "I think they feel they're blessed to be in a position to be able to have some kind of work."