COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—Three years ago, Bonithe Nitunga was living with his three daughters in a squalid refugee camp in Tanzania, a country in east-central Africa. He was mourning his wife’s death two months earlier from heart disease, and had little hope for his family’s future.
But much has changed for the Nitunga family, who settled in Colorado Springs in late September 2007 as Burundian refugees.
Nitunga, who earned a teaching certificate from a Rwandan trade school and was principal of the Burundian refugee school in Tanzania, is hopeful of finding work in the education field. Two of his daughters, 18-year-old Florence and 15-year-old Francoise, are students at Palmer High School, and 20-year-old Francine is enrolled at Pikes Peak Community College.
Nitunga, who speaks four languages including his native kirundi, credits Springs agencies and ministries for helping the family, especially Lutheran Family Services, St. Joseph’s Catholic Church and Catholic Charities.
“Without their help, I don’t know where we would be,” he said.
A small country next to Tanzania, Burundi is one of the poorest places in the world, and has been ravaged by civil war. Tens of thousands of Burundians who fled the mayhem ended up in refugee camps in Tanzania and Rwanda. The Nitungas lived in the Tanzanian camp for 14 years.
Since 2006, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees has resettled Burundian exiles in the United States and other countries. In 2007, with the help of Lutheran Family Services, the commission started bringing Burundians to Colorado Springs.
About 70 refugees moved to the Springs although about 10 have since moved to live with or near family members in other cities.
The Burundian refugee camps had no modern conveniences, such as running water, electricity and television. None of the Springs refugees had ever owned or driven a car.
Though happy about being in the Springs, the Burundians have sometimes been challenged by their new environment.
The majority of the community’s breadwinners hold low-paying unskilled jobs, which causes financial stress. Some are overqualified for the work they do. Nitunga, for example, works as a hotel dishwasher.
Many in the community miss African culture and food. Francoise Nitunga said she misses the spirited song and dance of the Catholic church in the refugee camp, though she enjoys the reserved services at St. Joseph’s.
Tragedy has also struck the tightly knit community, most of whom live in the same east Colorado Springs apartment complex.
In April 2009, Burundi refugee Noheri Manirakiza was driving his wife, eight months pregnant, to Memorial Hospital, when he was distracted by wails from labor pains, according to the Colorado Springs Police. The car crashed, killing Manirakiza’s wife and unborn child. Police did not ticket Manirakiza for the crash.
The Burundian community and St. Joseph’s rallied around the Manirakiza family, raising money for them and helping Noheri adjust to being a single parent to his young daughters.
Since the Burundians’ arrival, Lutheran Family Services has helped them learn English, adjust to modern culture, and find jobs and apartments. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development subsidizes the cost of their housing. St. James and Catholic Charities donate clothing, small appliances, food and furniture.
Many who have helped the Burundians have been enriched by the experience.
“They are so motivated, so appreciative,” said Lila Dixon, a St. Joseph’s member who helps with the church’s English as a Second Language classes.
“The way they connect with people is amazing,” said Floyd Preston, director of the refugee and asylum program at Lutheran Family Services.
Preston is especially impressed by how Burundians handle grief.
Following tradition, Nitunga and Manirakiza went through separate three-month formal mourning periods after losing their wives. “After the process, they seemed to be done with the grief,” Preston said.
Manirakiza, 27, says he still thinks about his deceased wife, Beatrice Sabimana, but he is adjusting to this new stage of his life.
For the past 14 months, Manirakiza has worked full time as a drywall installer. He drives to work in a car donated to him by Catholic Charities, he said, which replaced his crashed minivan. He cares for his girls, 6-year-old Hariette, a first-grader at Jefferson Elementary, and 4-year-old Delphine, who is in pre-school. The girls seem at home in America and speak better English than kirundi.
The Manirakizas live in a tidy two-bedroom apartment in east Colorado Springs, fitted with a big-screen television and a computer with Internet access.
“Life has changed so much for me,” Manirakiza said. “I am so grateful.”
