3 Nick Brune

Narrative Summary

Leya Neema is originally from Burundi Africa where she lived with her mom, dad, and brother. When she was 2 years old her family fled Burundi, on foot with her on their back. Leya’s parents are Hutu and Tutsi which made them a mixed tribe marriage in Burundi this made them rebels in the eyes of others. Leya explained that Rohana and Burundi used to be one country until they split and because of this a lot of conflicts are very similar. The genocide that was going on in Rohanda was also occurring in Burundi but because of the varying levels of severity no one paid that much attention to the violence in Burundi. Hundreds of thousands lives were lost in Burundi because of this genocide and Leya and her family had to flee in order to escape it. Leya pointed out that not only were her parents in danger but so were her brother and herself because they were mixed by birth because of their parents. Wherever Leya and her family went to one of them was not safe because of their blended tribe heritage.

After Leya and her family fled Burundi they ended up in a refugee camp in Tanzania with other mixed tribed families. This camp was called Mkugwa which was the only mixed Hutu and Tutsi camp that existed at the time. For the most part, Leya actually enjoyed her time in the camp mostly because she did not realize that was the case because of her young age when they arrived. They lived in mud houses and spent most of their days playing around in the dirt and the water next to the camp. One of her more distinct memories of her time living in Mkugwa was when cars would drive over the bridge next to the camp. When this happened it was very exciting and they would run and tell everyone to come look in amazement at the cars but also the white men that drove them. Along with it being exciting at the time this memory also sticks out for Leya because it was her first experience of seeing people who did not have black skin.

Leya was 7 years old when her family was finally able to leave Tanzania and be resettled in the United States. Her family was part of one of the very first groups of people to come to the United States back in 1998. Leya and her families emotions about moving were very complex because of the lack of knowledge about the United States that they had at that time. Leya even remembers that there were several cases that refused resettlement because of the stories that people would make up. One of the most common rumors that Leya recalls was people saying that when refugees got shipped to the United States they were immediately sent to a factory and melted down into soaps. This very quickly created an environment where the views about the United States ranged from resettlement being a death sentence to a chance to live in the land of golden honey.

Another example of misconceptions occurring during Leya’s journey to resettlement is when she watched a cultural orientation video that was intended to prepare them for life in the United States. This video served as a guide for what to watch out for while adjusting to their new life and painted African Americans in a poor light. After watching this video Leya says that herself and her family had a real fear of African Americans when they moved. Originally when they arrived Leya purposefully tried to stay away from African Americans because of this fear. Eventually she says she got over this fear through her school experience where she was able to meet and form relationships with fellow classmates.

When Leya and her family came to the United States they originally lived in Phoenix, Arizona for a year. After that, they moved to Iowa because some other refugees convinced them it was a great place to live with lots of jobs and friendly people. The biggest challenge that Leya faced in her new life was school originally. Part of this was because there was little schooling offered for the children living in Mkugwa. On top of this all of the cultural shock, finding new friends, and learning English cause Leya to feel overwhelmed. To make matters worse, once she learned English she picked it up much quicker than her parents and because of this she had to help them in many ways. Leya said it put a strain on her relationship with her parents growing up because she was pretty much the head of the household. From a young age, she had to manage their accounts, pay bills, and help write checks and DHS papers to receive benefits. All of these things lead Leya to feel while she was growing up that a lot of things were very unfair.

Leya’s father’s side of the family all still live in Burundi because they were never resettled. Leya’s cousins did not start reaching out to her until she was about to graduate college because they thought she would then be rich living in a mansion with servants and be able to support all of us. A lot of families send money back home but budgeting is not a skill that many people have in her home country. On top of that, the majority of people back in Burundi have the belief that people living in America have unlimited amounts of money. Due to this Leya strategically plans out the amounts and timing that she sends money home to ensure that it is used wisely.

Leya was able to overcome these barriers and ended up doing very well in school. After she graduated from high school she went onto college where she originally studied politics until she found a love for psychology and switched her major. When Leya graduated from college she accepted an Americorp position at the Catherine McAuley Center working with refugees to help them with their resettlement experience. Her experience working at the center has been extremely fulfilling and is something she also excels at. She has dreams on day of getting to work for the United Nations.

Towards the end of our conversation about her life as a refugee, I asked Leya what the word refugee meant to her. The most important thing she wishes people understood is that refugees and migrants are not the same and she did not choose to come here. Leya says that people who are bright could have gone on to do great things in their home countries instead of coming here and having to struggle to earn an education because of language barriers and the variations in the school systems. While she admits that the quality of life is clearly better in the United States that does not mean that refugees are not making huge sacrifices in their lives. To Leya, a refugee is simply a person who is looking for the opportunity to live a free and safe life.

Personal Reflection

My experience interviewing Leya Neema for this oral history project was an extremely powerful experience that has stuck with me. Admittedly going into this assignment I was not sure what to expect was nervous to conduct the interview about such a personal subject. However, through this interview, I was able to learn such valuable information about the life experience of a refugee that few people will ever get the opportunity to learn first hand. Leya provided me with an extraordinary amount of information and personal accounts of events that made my narrative so exciting to write and fulfilling to write. Leya’s story as a refugee is an emotional, complex, and inspirational story that everyone can learn from.

One of the most significant facts that I learned from my interview with Leya is the connection between the Rwanda genocide and Burundi. So many of us know of the Rwanda genocide but the same horrific violence was occurring in Burundi and got significantly less attention. It was painful to hear Leya explain that the reason that her family was in danger was simply because of her parents’ love for one another. I found this to be inspiring in itself that her parents chose to get married and start a family despite the dangers of doing so. It was very impactful when Leya explained in her own words that she understands why the Rwanda genocide receives more attention because of the large difference in the number of deaths. However, hundreds of thousands of people being slaughtered in Burundi is horrific in its own right and deserves more acknowledgment from the public.

The second most significant thing I learned from Leya was just how little knowledge refugees can have of the country they are being sent to be resettled in. Leya explained that her family knew almost nothing about the United States before coming to live here. I cannot imagine how terrifying it would feel to be sent on a plane to somewhere I knew nothing about to live the rest of my life. This lack of knowledge led to false information being spread around the refugee camp and even caused some families to refuse resettlement out of fear. It saddened me deeply when Leya told me about her family’s fear of African Americans when they arrived in the United States because of the brief cultural orientation videos that they were shown depicting them negatively.

The third significant piece of information that I learned, is the one that has stuck with me the longest since my interview with Leya. Once Leya and her family arrived in America, very quickly Leya as a child had to become the head of the household for her parents. It was very hard for her parents to learn English and once Leya picked it up it became her responsibility to keep the household in order. This included her paying bills, managing accounts, writing checks, and much more. At her young age, this placed a strain on her relationship with her parents because it made their roles as parents and children extremely complex. Leya explained that as a teenager, it became challenging for her parents to discipline her when needed because of how important her contributions to the household were.

My interview experience with Leya was rewarding and unbelievably impactful on me. I found so much joy and inspiration at the Catherine McAuley Center where Leya works that I have started the process to become a tutor at the center for refugee children. Along with all of that Leya provided me with a unique educational experience about life as a refugee on a personal and detailed level. I am so thankful that Leya greeted me with such warmth and told me her story with raw honesty. Overall I am extremely thankful to have been given this opportunity and it will stay with me for the rest of my life.