Nicollet County, Minnesota The Faces of Immigration

Elizabeth: We farmed…we grow corn, beans, and tomatoes. But mushrooms…we don’teat in Sudan.Jamie: Did you have animals?Elizabeth: We have cows and chickens…(Jioch quacks like a chicken).Jamie: How did you make the choice to leave Sudan?David: When the people they capture in the war right away and running…Jamie: You ran away?David: Yeah. When you leave a place you don’t have a choice…because of the war theycome in. No choice but to go to the refugee camps.Jamie: Did you walk there?David: Yeah, you walk to Ethiopia and Ethiopia to border you can go to Kenya.Jamie: How long did you walk?David: Three days…four days. In the South they have some people near and some peopleis not near (the border).Jamie: Can you communicate with your family members who are still in Sudan?David: Yes, sometimes they come to Ethiopia or sometimes they go to the North inKhartoum. Sometimes peace…is ok now. People communicate in Sudan now. When theyhave peace…they decide last year…the people they go to the North in Khartoum…youcan communicate with them.Jamie: Is the situation better in the North or in the South?David: The situation is ok now but when the peace process the war go down…people inthe South have a little government now. They live in (town); it is in the South not in theNorth.Jamie: So there is a separate government in South Sudan?David: Is the same government but…in the South they have one person whocommunicate what they are doing. The people of the U.S. have different government…Elizabeth: It is like in the U.S. each state has a different governor and the senate…likethat. They have different government but the same president.29