Zita’s Story: Her Journey from Central African Republic to the U.S.


Zita Solange, as told by Suzanne Colton and Therese Murray | April 7, 2015

Suzanne Colton, Zita Solange and Therese Murray. Photo: Kelly Chauvin

Suzanne Colton, Zita Solange and Therese Murray. Photo: Kelly Chauvin

As originally published by CWS-RDU, 03/27/2015

CWS volunteers Suzanne Colton and Therese Murray had the opportunity to meet with Zita Solange, a refugee from the Central African Republic, who was recently resettled by CWS in Durham, North Carolina. Like many refugees fleeing persecution, Zita became separated from her family through the conflict in CAR and began the long process of waiting for her case to be approved for resettlement to the United States. To reunite the family, CWS is helping Zita apply for her husband and mother to come to the U.S. Here, Zita tells us her story.

Zita left Central African Republic, her native country, in December 2003 after her village was destroyed due to political instability and armed conflict. She left on foot with her two children, ages six and three, and her younger sister, spending three days in the bush. Zita was part of a group of two hundred people trying to reach the CAR-Chad border. They did not know the route to Chad so they followed a river northward. Her children’s father had already left CAR with his family, as he lived in a different village. After arriving at the border, they were met by United Nations staff, and taken by bus to the Maro Refugee Camp.

Zita and her family were then transferred to a second camp, the Yaroungou Camp, where they were reunited with the children’s father. Their third child, Divine (in the photo,, to Zita’s right), was born in 2004. Life in the refugee camp was organized around building shelter, growing food and attending school. Health services were also available in the camp. Food rations were delivered monthly, consisting of rice, salt, oil and other staples. But, Zita explains, there was no milk. Each family received production kits to help with agriculture and increase self-reliance. Zita had a plot of land on which she grew food for the family. During the dry season Zita also built a mud brick shelter to replace the temporary tent they had been living in.

Zita never lost an opportunity to move forward in her life and advocate for her family’s livelihood. While in the camp, in addition to attending to all of her family’s needs, Zita went to school and obtained the equivalent of her high school diploma. In 2007, she won a scholarship to attend a university in Yaounde, the capital of neighboring Cameroon. There, she studied administrative secretarial work, while her children stayed with their father and paternal grandparents. Unfortunately, the children’s father died in 2009 while Zita was completing her studies in Cameroon, so she did not get the chance to see him again or say goodbye.

When Zita returned to the refugee camp, she taught French in the camp school during the mornings, and worked in the field in the afternoons. Her salary was the equivalent of $15 per month, but she was not allowed to work outside the camp because she was not a Chadian citizen.

In October 2012, disaster struck. The Yaroungou Camp flooded, destroying over 85 percent of rice and corn crops, and all the refugees in Yaroungou had to be relocated to nearby Belom Camp, which was situated on higher ground. Zita’s mother arrived in the camp from CAR in 2013, and Zita was overjoyed to be reunited with her after 10 years apart.

At Belom Camp, Zita met her current husband, Guy. He was working as a driver and was a Chadian national, not a refugee like Zita living in the camp. They were married in a civil ceremony conducted by the mayor. When Zita began the process to come to the United States, she and Guy had not yet married. Initially, Zita was scheduled to leave Chad in September 2013 but her case was delayed for a year. Finally, on September 23, 2014, Zita, then six months pregnant, and her three children arrived in the U.S. In total, Zita had spent eleven years in refugee camps.

With the help of CWS, Zita now lives in a two bedroom apartment in Durham. She and her children enjoy and appreciate the peace, safety and comfort of her apartment and surrounding community. Compared to living in Cameroon’s capital, Durham doesn’t seem very large to her, but everything is new. Zita has learned how to take the bus and use the new appliances in her apartment’s kitchen. She is also attending English classes at CWS. Zita has recently started a working at the new 21 C Museum Hotel in downtown Durham, a job which CWS helped her to find, and she also cleans houses on the side. Her three oldest children, ages 17, 14 and 10, attend local schools.

Zita finds it very hard to remain separated from her mother and new husband. He is living with his parents in Chad while waiting to be reunited with her. They miss each other very much, especially since Guy has not seen their new baby daughter, Samantha (pictured, in Zita’s arms). Zita and Guy talk on the phone regularly and send pictures back and forth. Living as a single mother in a new country is difficult for Zita, although she feels grateful to be here and proud of her new daughter’s American citizenship, the first in her family. Zita is having to balance finding childcare for the baby, while working to provide the necessary income for rent and living expenses for her family. She is excited and optimistic.

Zita named her new baby Samantha in honor of her CWS case manager, Samantha Kubik . Zita says she was inspired by Samantha’s courage and the help Samantha had given to her family as their caseworker. Zita wants her daughter to grow up to be “as courageous and open-hearted as Samantha Kubik.”

Zita’s story was compiled by CWS volunteers Suzanne Colton and Therese Murray, who interviewed Zita in French. Both have been volunteering regularly with CWS since 2014. Therese, a native of France, taught French for 38 years, and she and her husband recently moved from Houston to Raleigh after retiring. Suzanne taught French and ESL for 35 years, and also volunteered with World Relief’s refugee resettlement program in the Chicago area. After retiring, Suzanne and her husband also recently moved to Raleigh.