Link of an article on a Sudanese refugee that was published in Utica Observer-Dispatch Feb 14, 2007

http://www.uticaod.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070214/NEWS/702140313/1001


Here is the full text
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Posted: February 13. 2007 11:06PM

Sudanese refugee adapting to life in Utica

UTICA — When Abdelshakour Khamis boarded a plane to the United States in 2005, laundry was one thing that was certainly not on his mind, he said.
But it quickly became a concern. In Khamis' homeland of Sudan, residents wash clothes by hand and hang them on wires to dry, he said.
"We were wondering where and how to do laundry," he said.
Slowly, Khamis and his family got used to life and some modern amenities in Utica. They are among about 100 Sudanese refugees who have been resettled here by the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees.
Through June, the refugee center will hold an occasional lecture series on various refugee groups. Khamis, a genocide survivor, will speak Thursday about Darfur, where armed conflict between rebel groups has led to genocide and has put the region in the spotlight for ongoing killings and ethnic cleansing.
Peter Vogelaar, executive director of the refugee center, said the Sudanese refugees have adapted well and the British legacy there is a plus because of their knowledge of the English language.
"Many have gone on to colleges. Others are working," he said. "Many Sudanese are quite conversant in English. That gave them a leg-up."
Khamis, who works at the refugee center as an information system coordinator, is one of the last Sudanese to make Utica home.
Whether more Sudanese refugees will come to Utica is difficult to predict because of a peace agreement between the government and the rebel groups, but some who have fled to Chad may come, Vogelaar said.
Two civil wars already have occurred in Sudan, the largest country in Africa. It was during the second, which began in 1983, that Khamis left his country for Cairo, Egypt. In 2005, he left Egypt for Utica.
He still remembers the life he had before the war broke out and everything had to be left behind — the connections, the family, the farms, the gardens and home itself.
"It was so nice....," he said, his voice trailing off and his eyes moistening. "I miss everything."
Khamis lived in Jebel Marra, which had mountains, green trees and sprawling farms. Life there was simple, he said.
And then the troubles began. His father and an older brother were killed in the war in 1988, and he could not go home, he said.
Khamis did not want to fight. He saw no other option but to escape.
In April 1990, Khamis left his country forever and took a boat to Egypt where he lived and worked before coming to United States.
"I left everything behind," he said.
He kept in touch with his family with letters and a few phone calls to his uncle.
"They said 'Don't come back,'" he said.
By the time Khamis landed in Utica, he was ready to start a new life, he said.
"There were mountains, it was summer," he said. "My immediate reaction was 'I went back home.'"

By CHINKI SINHA
Observer-Dispatch
csinha@utica.gannett.com