Coming to America
In a rundown refugee apartment complex a new world city is taking shape, and one teenage girl is at the center of it.
After 9/11 the United States admitted far fewer refugees—just 27,000 in fiscal year 2002, down from 85,000 in 1999. Nearly none were from Burma (or, as its military regime now calls it, Myanmar), despite the harsh criticism and sanctions the Bush administration directed against the regime. Helber and thousands of other dispossessed people became collateral damage of the Patriot Act, which barred anyone who was associated with or who gave “material support” to a “terrorist organization.” The latter term embraced any group that took up weapons for any reason other than “personal monetary gain”—including the Karen National Union and its counterparts among Burma’s other ethnic groups. “Material support” could mean giving water to a thirsty rebel or sharing food at gunpoint. For many Karens, the KNU was the only government they knew, and their only defense against the army. The circumstances that made them refugees made them ineligible for refuge.
In 2006, the United States admitted 1,323 refugees from Burma; 17 of them were resettled in Washington. Last year 18,139 arrived in the United States and 2,247 in Washington. Today the largest source of refugees entering this country and this state is not Iraq, Afghanistan, or another front-page trouble spot. It’s Burma, a land most Americans know nearly nothing about.
The first words Helber said to Webb were, “I want go college. How much cost it?”
Helber’s family arrived on July 25, 2007—her 15th birthday. The journey had been claustrophobic; they were confined first aboard the bus, then in a hotel at the Thai authorities’ insistence. Bangkok was the first city Helber, peeking through the windows, had ever seen, and she marveled at its glass and steel and concrete. But Helber was too excited to be scared. Seattle was bigger and glossier yet. “I thought, so many tall buildings. I want to help my country grow, to have buildings like that.” She expected to live in a house with a yard to play in, like the ones in magazines and movies. Instead her family found itself at the crowded Tukwila apartment complex. Still, she says, “I was happy, because this was our house.”
She soon gained a valuable friend, Sally Webb, a business veteran and world traveler–turned–volunteer with the International Rescue Committee. Helber, with her English skills and fearlessness in the face of new challenges, would become an essential accomplice in Webb’s efforts to provide the refugees the tools and experiences they needed to become self-sufficient and fit into American society, from a P-Patch and bicycles to computer classes, cultural outings, and wilderness training. The first words Helber said to Webb, soon after she arrived, were, “I want go college. How much cost it?”
This state receives more refugees than all but five others, more than twice the U.S. average relative to population. Nearly all of them land in the Seattle area. Tom Medina, Washington State’s refugee-assistance coordinator, says this reflects a trend that goes back to the late 1970s, when California refused to take in Vietnamese boat people and Washington opened its doors: “We have a very welcoming atmosphere, plus good community support and infrastructure.”
But we also have costly housing, so new arrivals, refugees and immigrants alike, tend to bypass Seattle itself and land in the more affordable towns to the south: Burien, Renton, Federal Way, and especially Kent and Tukwila. The signs of this influx are everywhere. “We speak your language,” boasts the banner above the door of the Bartell Drugs three blocks from Helber’s apartment complex, and proves it in Spanish, Vietnamese, Bosnian, Serbian, Russian, German, Somali, and Samoan. The Valley Harvest supermarket in Kent, near the church where local Karens and Chins gather for services, is weak on American wines but has a great selection of Russian, Moldovan, and Armenian vintages.
Published: July 2009
Awesome article about an amazing young lady. Thank you!
This is one of the most positive refugee focused articles I’ve seen in a long time. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing this article with us Evie. I am constantly amazed at the struggles refugees have had to endure, and the many obstacles they are faced with once they arrive. Thank you for all the work you do to welcome them into our community.
Hi,
I was so excited to see this article. I have the honor of being Helber Moo’s principal at Foster High School. Helber is indeed an impressive young woman. I had the opportunity to read her National Honor Society application.
Foster High School is one of the most amazing places on the planet. It is such a privilege to work with so man special young people and staff that care about them so deeply. There are many stories such as Helber’s at our school.
I encourage anyone interested in experiencing such a rich culture to come visit us. If you would like to work closely with our students, please consider being a mentor.
Thanks for the great article!
Sincerely,
Jim Boyce, Principal
Foster High School