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[A house is] like food, like clothes. We want our kids to grow up in a home we own. Our Habitat home will bring freedom inside our house. This is part of our dream." |
"Still I don't believe it," says future Habitat homeowner Habtamu. "Every week I drive past the site of our future home-every Saturday."
Habtamu and his wife Ebsitu and children moved to the United States after escaping their native Ethiopia where political turmoil made them concerned for their safety. After living in a refugee camp in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2014 they were able to come to the United States through a refugee program. After a difficult first winter in Ohio, without a vehicle, good jobs, or social connections, the family moved to Iowa City in 2015.
They now live in a two-bedroom apartment where their son Hangasu (9) sleeps in one room, and his sisters Bilisumma (3) and Asli (1) sleep in their parents’ room. Their eldest son Morkata (12) is living in Ethiopia with his grandmother; they hope he will be able to reunite with the family and live in their new home in Iowa City next year.
The family feels unsafe in their apartment and neighborhood. They hear of shootings and the police are often in the area investigating criminal activity. This spring, water seeped into the ground floor of their apartment complex and into their apartment, something that the family says happens several times each year. Hangasu says it is difficult to do homework with his sisters running around and playing. He has no space of his own.
Habtamu says the family has spent much time wondering what would happen to them. With the promise of a Habitat home, uncertainty about the future has been replaced with stability, allowing them to concentrate on their work and education. Habtamu, who taught language at an Ethiopian college for nine years and worked for the government as a translator, now wants to continue his education once the family moves into their Habitat home. Ebsitu was employed as a social worker in Ethiopia. She currently takes ELL classes and hopes to pursue a college degree in the future.
“The kids will feel safe. They will have their own home and not have to move from place to place,” says Habtamu. “They will feel responsible for their own house and they will be able to play outside more in a safer neighborhood.”
Habtamu adds that a house is a basic human need, especially with children, "It's like food, like clothes," he says. “We want our kids to grow up in a home we own. Our Habitat home will bring freedom inside our house. This is part of our dream."
-Story written by Diana Russo
Habtamu and his wife Ebsitu and children moved to the United States after escaping their native Ethiopia where political turmoil made them concerned for their safety. After living in a refugee camp in Nairobi, Kenya, in 2014 they were able to come to the United States through a refugee program. After a difficult first winter in Ohio, without a vehicle, good jobs, or social connections, the family moved to Iowa City in 2015.
They now live in a two-bedroom apartment where their son Hangasu (9) sleeps in one room, and his sisters Bilisumma (3) and Asli (1) sleep in their parents’ room. Their eldest son Morkata (12) is living in Ethiopia with his grandmother; they hope he will be able to reunite with the family and live in their new home in Iowa City next year.
The family feels unsafe in their apartment and neighborhood. They hear of shootings and the police are often in the area investigating criminal activity. This spring, water seeped into the ground floor of their apartment complex and into their apartment, something that the family says happens several times each year. Hangasu says it is difficult to do homework with his sisters running around and playing. He has no space of his own.
Habtamu says the family has spent much time wondering what would happen to them. With the promise of a Habitat home, uncertainty about the future has been replaced with stability, allowing them to concentrate on their work and education. Habtamu, who taught language at an Ethiopian college for nine years and worked for the government as a translator, now wants to continue his education once the family moves into their Habitat home. Ebsitu was employed as a social worker in Ethiopia. She currently takes ELL classes and hopes to pursue a college degree in the future.
“The kids will feel safe. They will have their own home and not have to move from place to place,” says Habtamu. “They will feel responsible for their own house and they will be able to play outside more in a safer neighborhood.”
Habtamu adds that a house is a basic human need, especially with children, "It's like food, like clothes," he says. “We want our kids to grow up in a home we own. Our Habitat home will bring freedom inside our house. This is part of our dream."
-Story written by Diana Russo
