wfn.org | Sudanese refugees descend on Dallas, ascend at Ascension

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 2001-221

Sudanese refugees descend on Dallas, ascend at Ascension

by Jim Goodson

      (ENS) Forty-four Sudanese refugees have found a home in Dallas, thanks to 
the committed involvement of Episcopalians at the Church of the Ascension. More 
are on the way.

      "They arrive here with $40 and they have 90 days to find a job," Ascension 
parishioner Curtis L. Gadsden says. "That's it. These are people who have 
witnessed war and famine firsthand, but they are people who have also taught us a 
lot about faith in God. They are convinced God sent them here."

      Gadsden heads the North Dallas church's involvement with the refugees, who 
are placed here through the North Texas Refugee Center. Catholic Charities and 
the Church of the Ascension are the two prime centers for Sudanese refugees to 
land here.

      "The media calls these young men the 'lost boys of the Sudan,' but they are 
not boys and they are not lost," Gadsden says. "They know who they are, where 
they are and they have faith they will survive and thrive in the United States."

Newcomers 'too trusting'

      Church members brought the young men to Ascension in early May, divided 
them up according to apartments and began an attempt to meet their needs--from 
toothpaste to shoes to describing Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) routes. Many 
of the young men work at Cafi Express, a new restaurant in the just-completed 
DART rail line at Mockingbird Station.

      They live in the Park Lane-Greenville Ave. area of Dallas in apartments 
that have seen better days. Once a popular "swinging singles" part of town, the 
apartments have deteriorated into a nest for drug-dealing and prostitution.

      "One of our problems is that these young men--despite all they have seen--
are too trusting," Gadsden says. "Everyone they have met in the United States has 
helped them, so they tend to think everyone here is a friend," Gadsden says. 
"That is certainly not true in their neighborhood."

Understanding culture

      Gadsden and committee members Tom, Dabney and Christopher Dwyer, John 
Irvin, George Rutherford, Winifred Rutenbar, Doug Taber, Scott Raines, Dodie 
Reagan, Teddy Okonkwo, along with Ascension's rector, Kai Ryan, devised a program 
that's built around understanding Sudanese culture. The refugees are some of the 
initial wave of 3,800 young men scattered throughout the U.S. after a year spent 
in a refugee camp in Ethiopia.

      The largest country in Africa, Sudan was cobbled together by the British 
before they abandoned North Africa. Light-skinned Muslims populate the arid north 
and mostly dark-skinned Christians or people who follow native faiths inhabit the 
fertile south. Oil lies underground the middle ground and valuable water flows 
north-south in the Nile River along the Sudan-Ethiopia border.

     "The Sudan has experienced one of the most protracted civil wars in modern 
history, the result of which has been the death of over two million Southern 
Sudanese at the hands of an extremist Islamic regime," says Richard Parkins, 
director of Episcopal Migration Ministries. "The ongoing bombardment of civilian 
targets is fueled by revenues generated by oil exploration and the willingness of 
several external powers to help Khartoum maintain a military arsenal."

     "Constant warfare keeps Sudan from establishing a successful agrarian or 
industrial society," says Mulla Nkrumah, who helps place Sudanese refugees in 
Dallas through Catholic Charities. 

     Church of the Ascension members took note of dietary requirements, language 
barriers and other needs of the young men, all of whom are Anglicans.

      "The parish spent three weeks learning about Sudan and its culture," 
Gadsden says. "We welcomed them with a big meal in early summer. Then we paired 
them off according to living arrangements. They are grouped into 11 apartments.

      "We asked each group what they needed. We did a full assessment of their 
needs. Then we began the process of getting to know them. We invite them into our 
homes on Sundays and we all worship together.

      "We've formed very close, familial bonds with all of the young men."

More on the way

      Gadsden, former IBM Vice President for Sales and Marketing in North 
America, and his wife Marsha (also a retired IBM executive), says he is proud of 
the church's accomplishments. Ascension's program has been so successful that 13 
more Sudanese refugees are on the way.

      "This has been one of the most difficult jobs I've had," he says. "At 
first, it was very stressful because we are dealing with people's lives. But it 
has become very rewarding.

      "It took us several Sundays, but now we have a ton of programs that the 
young men can utilize," Gadsden says. "All of our committee members have specific 
areas of responsibility. Everything from health care to transit schedules. DART 
is wonderful. It's not widely known, but DART provides free transportation to 
non-profit groups who want to take an outing to, say, the Ballpark in Arlington 
or the Dallas Zoo."

      The refugees worship at Ascension every Sunday, along with a large group of 
Nigerian nationals and the mostly-Anglo population of the rapidly-changing North 
Dallas neighborhood.

      "Everyone at Ascension has always worshipped together," Gadsden says. "We 
try to be one, big family."

--Jim Goodson is missioner for communications in the Diocese of Dallas.