Growing Sudanese community in Grand Island seeks understanding

GRAND ISLAND, Neb, May 3, 2004 (AP) — Grand Island has become an attractive refuge for Sudanese fleeing two decades of civil war in their homeland.

Compared with larger cities such as New York, Minneapolis and Omaha where Sudanese refugees are usually settled, Grand Island is seen as a safer and quieter community – especially for people accustomed to rural life.

“We are moving here for our little children,” said Gatlauk Othnawang during a recent presentation on Sudanese immigrants at St. Leo’s Catholic Church.

Workers from church, city, school district, social service agencies and other organizations attended the meeting in an effort to better understand the new local Sudanese community.

A 21-year civil war in southern Sudan – Africa’s largest country – has claimed more than 2 million lives, mainly through famine.

Nearly 450 Sudanese refugees now live in Grand Island, said William Riek, founder of the Sudanese Refugee Community Organization.

Many Sudanese are employed at the Swift and Co. meatpacking plant.

Still, transition can be difficult, with language, transportation and affordable housing as the three biggest issues for local Sudanese, Riek said.

Some Sudanese have moved back to Omaha where jobs and housing are more plentiful and they have the chance to take English classes, Riek said.

One woman at the meeting asked why Sudanese children run away from her children when they invite them to play.

Othnawang said that in Sudanese culture, children would not feel that they could play with other children unless their families are properly introduced.

Cindi Preisendorf of the Community Humanitarian Resource Center also noted that looking another person directly in the eye is viewed as rude among Sudanese.

A direct look from one man to another in Sudan could be a call to fight, Riek said.

Children also are not supposed to look adults in the eye, which can be a problem in U.S. schools where teachers expect their students to look at them directly. If children learn such behavior at school, they can then be seen as disrespectful when they use it at home.

The adoption of too much of American culture by Sudanese children can cause family strains at home, Preisendorf said.

But the Sudanese are hoping to overcome their initial difficulties in Grand Island and make it their home.

A number of Grand Island churches have been trying to help the new arrivals, including Trinity Lutheran, St. Leo’s Catholic Church and Evangelical Free Church – which holds Sudanese services on Sunday afternoons.

“The people of Grand Island have welcomed us warmly,” Riek said.