“It’s better to help them.”

“Maybe I’ll go back to my country and die there.” That’s how Ajuwa felt after spending seven years in a refugee camp in Malawi.

Ajuwa and his wife, Imani, had fled their homes in Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo to a refugee camp. After the Rwandan Genocide, conflict among rebel groups and various governments arose in eastern Congo. War broke out, and Ajuwa and Imani were no longer safe.

“Almost every day, people were killed. Usually, they would come at night. They come with guns to take things, kill people, and take people away.”

After seven years in a refugee camp, Ajuwa, Imani and their four children who were born in the camp were accepted into the resettlement program which allowed them to move to the U.S. Now, the family is adapting to their new life in Greensboro. The children are doing well in school, Ajuwa has a good job and obtained his driver’s license, and they’ve been able to buy a car to get the kids to school and for Ajuwa to get to work.

It took hard work, motivation, persistence, and – most importantly – learning English (Ajuwa already speaks 5 languages, and now also wants to learn Spanish) for them to get to this point.

Ajuwa and Imani ask that all of us remember that there are refugees still suffering in camps, urging us to “be attentive to refugees…When you meet a refugee, it is better to help them.”