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Housing

Work and Finances

Health Care

Mental Health

Education

Learning English

Style of Communication

Special Needs of Women

Relationship between Bantu and Other Somalis

Although the Bantu come from a rural farming region, many have been living in large camps with approximately 40,000 other refugees.

Resettlement Challenges

As would be the case with other farmers from rural Africa, the Bantu will face a culture and civil society in America that is as foreign to them as any on earth. Although other refugees with similar histories of persecution and marginalization, such as the Hmong from Southeast Asia, have resettled in the United States, no such large group of African immigrants from one minority group has come to the United States.

In addition to obstacles such as illiteracy, lack of English skills, immigrant status, lack of formal education, and no modern-economy job skills, the Bantu will also face the obstacle of discrimination inherent in American society. For these reasons, it is suggested that American resettlement professionals devote sufficient resources to help the Somali Bantu overcome the immense challenges they will face in the United States.

The Bantu have a very strong sense of family and community. This strength can work to overcome some of the challenges they will face in the United States. Resettling extended family and kin groups together could provide the social, spiritual, and physical support that will be needed by the Bantu to more effectively integrate into American society. This is particularly important as Bantu refugees will neither have established family, nor kin support networks waiting to assist them in the United States. Moreover, they have proven time and again that they can adapt to extremely difficult and new situations. With sufficient levels of mentoring and resources, the Bantu can successfully adapt to American society.

Although the Bantu come from a rural farming region, many have been living in large camps with approximately 40,000 other refugees. In this regard, some of the Bantu have gained limited exposure to urban ways of life, such as transportation systems, rental property, and government services, which they weren't familiar with in Somalia. The Dadaab refugee camps, for example, are served by taxis and buses on a regular basis. There are even buses originating in the camps that travel directly to major Kenyan cities, including Nairobi.

The IOM conducts cultural orientation for all U.S.-bound adult Somali Bantu refugees over the age of 15. Orientation is geared toward preparing refugees for resettlement in the United States; topics include work, housing, health, and education. Due to concerns about the special challenges facing the Bantu, the U.S. State Department has approved enhanced cultural orientation of up to 80 hours for each individual. The additional training includes survival literacy and special classes for mothers and youth.

American resettlement agencies may wish to prepare training and support for the Somali Bantu that worked well with other resettled refugees groups with similar characteristics, such as rural African refugees or the Hmong of Southeast Asia. In particular, agencies may wish to focus on high school equivalency (GED), English language training, crime awareness, rights and opportunities available to them as newcomers to America, and relations among the myriad ethnic groups in the United States.

The following briefly discusses areas of need for newly resettled Bantu refugees and what service providers might do to address these needs.

Housing

Since the Bantu have had very little exposure to Western housing, conveniences, and food, resettlement professionals will need to employ strategies with the Bantu that previously worked with other rural refugees. Electricity, flush toilets, telephones, and kitchen and laundry appliances are all foreign to most Bantu refugees.

The Bantu, like other rural refugees, have had little experience with banks, checking accounts, or automatic teller machines.

Work and Finances

Although the Bantu possess few modern economy job skills, they are in other ways well prepared to enter the American work force. Their ability to accept virtually any job in Somalia and Kenya in order to provide for their families will serve them well in the United States.

The placement of newly arrived refugees in occupations in which they have skills, such as mechanics, small-scale farming, and construction, would enable them to more quickly learn their new jobs and prove their worth as employees. Working in semirural, nonmigratory agriculture may help some Bantu better acclimate to American society by placing them in a residential and work environment that is more familiar to them than standard modern-economy jobs in urban areas.

Bantu women have primarily worked in the home and on the farm. Some women acquired land in Somalia in order to earn their own money. Their hard-working and resourceful nature will help Bantu women find and keep jobs in the United States. Resettlement professionals may wish to use employment strategies for the Bantu women that were successful with other women of similar rural backgrounds, such as the Hmong.

The Bantu, like other rural refugees, have had little experience with banks, checking accounts, or automatic teller machines. Although the Bantu are familiar with borrowing land and money, selling produce in markets, and earning wages from private and public employers, the refugees will still require intensive training on finances, budgeting, and financial planning.

Like other rural east African people, the use of herbs in traditional medical practices is common.

Health Care

The IOM reports a high birth rate among the Bantu population, noting that most married women are either breastfeeding or pregnant and that the concept of family planning does not exist. According to recent data collected by the UNHCR, an estimated 60% of the Bantu are under 17, and 31% are under 6.

Although these characteristics are not unique to the Bantu, let alone other refugee populations, resettlement professionals should be prepared to deal with significant health care, sanitation, and social support issues relating to small children and mothers. For instance, the Bantu use pit latrines and are unfamiliar with typical American bathroom facilities and common sanitation items such as diapers and feminine care products.

The Bantu are a rural people who practice traditional beliefs. This extends to medical care in which local healing techniques are used. The IOM reports that some Bantu apply a heated nail or metal object to an infant's head in the belief that the burns will reduce the swelling of the head in cases where it is unusually large. They also burn small holes in the skin to cure ailments like stomach aches and migraine headaches. Like other rural east African people, the use of herbs in traditional medical practices is common.

Religious healing, such as prayer, is also frequently used. Some Bantu women, accompanied by traditional healers, perform ritual ceremonies, known as Gitimiri or Audara, to cast off illness and evil spells. Other such healing techniques are practiced among the Bantu and other Somali groups. Resettlement professionals in the United States may want to consult with their southern Somali colleagues to better understand the scope of such healing techniques practiced in that region.

Like other Somali groups, the Bantu circumcise both males and females. Aid workers in the refugee camps state that female circumcision practiced by some Bantu is a milder form than that practiced by the other Somali groups. While service providers report that the Bantu are agreeable to giving up the practice when they arrive in the United States, there have been reports from the UNHCR that some Bantu, knowing that they cannot legally circumcise their daughters in the U.S., rushed to circumcise them before departing Kenya. Health and legal concerns around this should continue to be addressed by resettlement agencies upon the Bantu's arrival in the United States. It should be noted that female circumcision is a tradition that may have accompanied Islam but is not mandated by Islam.

The years of subjugation and fear have adversely affected their sense of equality and self-esteem.

Mental Health

Bantu refugees with a lineage to slavery have a long history of marginalization. The years of subjugation and fear have adversely affected their sense of equality and self-esteem. The Bantu were further affected by the recent civil war with many fleeing only after their villages were attacked. Many witnessed friends and relatives being killed in bandit attacks in Somalia.

The prevalence of violence and the constant threat of attack in the refugee camps have further eroded the Bantu's sense of security and well-being. The IOM reports trauma-related problems, including hopelessness and depression, among the Bantu being interviewed for resettlement. Thus, resettlement professionals will have to contend not only with the aftereffects of trauma from violence, but also the Bantu's intergenerational culture of inferiority and second-class status. Service providers should closely monitor the Bantu to determine if any are experiencing serious mental health problems.

Margaret Munene, a UNHCR psychologist, explains that the Bantu's withdrawn demeanor could indicate low self-esteem. Munene further states that the Bantu have escaped their oppressors in Somalia only to live among them in Kenya. In the Dadaab refugee camps, the Bantu still lack the psychological freedom to be themselves.

It is important to recognize that Bantu children who will attend American public schools are probably traumatized as well, and will need special services in this area. Helping local host communities understand the background and experiences of trauma that the Bantu refugees have suffered will be very important.

Since education was often out of reach for Bantu children, most worked on their parents' farms instead of attending school.

Education

Since education was often out of reach for Bantu children, most worked on their parents' farms instead of attending school. As formal education has only begun to be available in the refugee camps, educators in the United States may find Bantu parents reluctant or unable to participate in their children's education.

Given the critical importance of literacy in the United States, resettlement professionals may want to prepare an intensive adult literacy campaign for adult Bantu refugees. Without literacy skills, Bantu adults will be unable to participate in the modern economy and integrate into mainstream American society.

Learning a new language in a foreign country poses many challenges.

Learning English

Learning a new language in a foreign country poses many challenges. However, given their versatility and strong adaptive ability, the Bantu are likely to overcome the challenges they encounter in this area. Af Maay and English are more similar in pronunciation than are Af Maxaa and English. Also, since many Bantu are at least bilingual, and in some cases speak four languages, they bring to the task of learning English the experience and understanding of what it takes to communicate in a different language.

The IOM reports that some Bantu are not accustomed to being interviewed and answering questions in a linear, sequential way

Style of Communication

One cultural issue in orientation will be the Bantu's style of communication. The IOM reports that some Bantu are not accustomed to being interviewed and answering questions in a linear, sequential way. Many women are not able to give the exact age of their children, and use weather markers or particular events rather than specific dates to answer questions about dates of birth and other family history. Only after long conversations with many follow-up questions can the appropriate information be determined. The IOM also reports that the Bantu are uncommonly open and honest with their answers compared to some other groups.

In the United States, the Bantu women will be further challenged if they cannot draw upon their extended family and kin networks...

Special Needs of Women

Female circumcision, rape, a lack of education, second-class status in Somali society, high birth rates, single parent status, and trauma from past experiences are all conditions that Bantu women have had to endure in Africa.

In the United States, the Bantu women will be further challenged if they cannot draw upon their extended family and kin networks to assist them with child rearing and moral support. Providing the Bantu women with appropriate social services and ensuring as much as possible that people belonging to the same social support network are resettled in the same geographic location will assist them in their transition to American society.

Relations Between Bantu and Other Somalis

Although the Somali population in the United States may not be openly hostile to the Bantu, and in some cases genuinely willing to assist them, service providers should not assume that there will be immediate mutual trust and respect between them. Resettlement professionals should use the same caution and sensitivity with regards to translation and case management with the Bantu and Somalis that they use with other ethnic groups with a history of contentious relations.

The Cultural Orientation Project--http://www.culturalorientation.net, for more information contact sanja@cal.org
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