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Laith Jajo

Posted by on April 1, 2015

Under the 1951 Convention Related to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is defined as,

“A person who, owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion , is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.”


Family

Laith with his wife, Rita, and their child, Antoine from their first couple of weeks in the US.

Iraq


Where it all began…


Listen to Laith tell his story…

Translation for Media 1

في سنة 61-62 كان هناك مشاكل كثيرة. ما بين الحكومة العراقية و الأكراد الحروب و القتل المستمر و بيضت العائلة كلها و بيضتالعشيرة كلها في هذه الحروب و بقي و بقي

“In the year of ’61 and ’62, there were many problems between the Iraqi government, the Kurd wars, the continued killings, the wiping out of whole families and clans in these wars and my family still stayed.”

 

. في سنة 2003 صارت الحق ,صار الدماء في العراق

“In 2003, it became violent and bloody in Iraq.”

 

. يخطفونهم و يأخظون على “رانسم” يأخذون فدية مالية في اليمنية, البلد كبيرة من المال وبعد ذلك يقتلونه بعد يأخظ المال

“They abducted them and took them for ransom in Yemen, which is the country with the most money, and after that they killed them after taking the money.”

 

في سنة 2005, بدأت الشغل مع ال”ي و م“. كان في برنامج الانتخابات البرنامجي في العراق وأصدقائي سوريين الذين ساعدني   البشف هذا الشغلالشغل. أشتغلت مع الموظفين العموميين “ي و م

“In 2005, I began work with IOM. It was in an election program in Iraq and my Syrian friends that helped me find this job.”

 

سوريا يعنى كانت أوضاع يعني أوضاع العراقيين بصورة و خصوصاً المسحيين كان صعبة جداً في العراق. لهذا سبب كثير منهم هربوا إلى سوريا

“I mean, the conditions of Iraqis and especially the Christians were very hard in Iraq. For this reason, a lot of them fled to Syria and this thing was maybe happening in Syria too.”

 

Syria


Easy Living


Beautiful. Laith chose this word to characterize his life in Syria. His work was beautiful. His life was beautiful. The people were beautiful. He described the people of Syria as wonderful with constant smiles on their faces anywhere you went. They would smile and laugh with any stranger they met which was proven throughout history as Laith would say. Although he had visited many other countries in the Middle East such as Lebanon and Jordan, the Syrian people remained his favorite for their kindness and their openness.

Tea 1         Tea 2

After leaving Iraqi in 2001, Laith moved to Syria. Having fled from Iraq under duress, he was surprised by the quality and ease of life in Syria. He began working with students of music to make a band in which he played the keyboard. Although he thought of returning to Iraq in 2003, due to his family’s advice, he remained in Syria and began working with the International Organization for Migration, or IOM, in 2005. His work with the IOM began when he was helping UN employees with the Iraqi elections outside Iraq, but his job duties changed in 2007 as he began work as an translator for Iraqi refugees flooding into Syria. When he helped to conduct interviews as a translator for Iraqis to be granted permanent resettlement plans, the majority of the people that he translated for were Iraqi, Palestinian, and Iranian refugees. Many of these refugees were widows and orphans. Even though his work was strenuous both physically and emotionally, he felt that he had a duty and responsibility to help these refugees secure a new life.

Keyboard

Although work was an important and gratifying part of Laith’s life in Syria, he also created a family there. In 2004, Laith met his wife, Rita, and they gave birth to their first child, Antoine, soon after.


The Rupture


During his time as a translator, Laith worked alongside people of many nationalities including Americans and Australians. He was especially close to one American man named Mr. Frank, his team leader while at IOM. As the violence worsened in Syria, he expressed that Mr. Frank advised him to leave…

Translation for Media 2

After a great deal of contemplation, he and his family decided to leave. He compares the worsening conditions in Syria to the ones he experienced in Iraq as a Christian. He did not want to subject his family to those violent conditions. After registering as a refugee, he went through several meetings and interviews to ensure this registration. This registration process is common for all refugees seeking asylum and/or resettlement in another host country. After registering as a refugee, you must tell the resettlement agency why you feel you cannot return to your home country whether out of danger or potential loss of life. Once the initial story is recorded, additional interviews are conducted through the refugee resettlement agency, such as IOM, and a governmental representative to confirm the details of the provided story. These details are so important, so much so that if, for example, the color of a car changes from one interview to the next, it may be a problem; It could potentially cause the refugee to not gain access to resettlement. Additionally, if it were a family seeking access to another country, like Laith’s family, only one member of the family can tell his or her story. Due to the process of refugee resettlement, only one person in a family serves as the familial representative and supplies a story that demonstrates danger or loss of life.

 

America


Sending…


St. Mary of the angels chapel

A Saint displayed on the side of the church.

Mary

Mary on the side of the St. Mary of Angels chapel.

Before coming to America, all refugees are required to take an introductory culture class where they learn and participate in multiple activities and group sessions for about a week. These classes are put in place to ease the refugees into life in America, or any other resettlement country, through pre-existing cultural, social, and legal knowledge; in essence, this is a crash course to American society. It could focus on the concept of trust, or it could be as simple as learning that it is illegal for a baby to not ride in a car seat. In addition, prior to traveling to America, Laith researched organizations that specialize in refugee resettlement. He sent emails to many organizations centered in the RTP (Research Triangle Park) area stating, “if one of you all would be our first caseworker or the first organizations to meet us, send me an email so I know you all beforehand.” A caseworker named Julianna from CWS, Church World Service, responded to Laith. Julianna made plans to meet Laith and his family at the RDU airport upon arrival, take them to their new home, and provide lessons and job assistance to the family.

“There were no problems.”

Fortunately, Laith had the English language “open” to him unlike many other refugees, and this assisted him greatly with integration into society.


Journey to Stay


America was not a place all too foreign to Laith. He visited America between the years of 2007 and 2012 for work with the UN. Furthermore, due to his work with the IOM in Syria, he knew the parameters of the journey and resettlement. However, the family of three came to stay in August of 2012. Although a family can request to be placed in a certain state where family or friends reside, the Jajo family decided on North Carolina. Shortly after their arrival, the family became four when they had their second child, Mattieus, who they fondly refer to as their “American.”

Toy

Antoine’s and Mattieus’s toys in the family’s living room.

The first job that Laith worked was in a cafeteria at Duke University. He worked as a cashier for the students there where spaghetti and meatballs happened to be a local favorite.

Translation for Media 3


American Smiles: a North Carolinian Specialty


IMG_6660

A Lebanese Maronite church that the family attends.

During his first encounter with Americans, his reaction paralleled his previous reaction to the Syrians. The Americans were very nice. Rita, Laith’s wife, had a similar reaction to the Americans especially regarding language. In Laith’s and Rita’s experience, Americans are receptive to the “stranger” or the “other.” Americans will assist second-language speakers learning the host country’s language or dialect unlike the Jordanians or the Syrians who would laugh at a person’s attempt. As Laith states, “here in America when you speak or try to speak English and you say a wrong word, they help you to correct the mistake…Americans love to help others.” Of all the states that Laith and his family traveled to in America on road trips to Michigan, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Washington D.C., and West Virginia, their favorite is North Carolina. A smile always awaits you along with a friendly greeting of “Good Morning! How are you doing?”

Translation for Media 4


Looking to the Future


The Jajo Family has been in the US for 3 years. Now a family of four, they live in Raleigh with both of their boys, Antoine, 6, and Mattieus, 3, who attend a local elementary school. Laith has moved on from the cafeteria and, most recently, he worked at Duke University as a teaching assistant for a music class in the Fall of 2014.

Although separated from their home countries, they retain their culture through food and language most specifically, as all the family members continue to speak Arabic and Aramaic in the house. For example, on our first visit to the family, the youngest, Mattieus, ran around the house saying,

“محكي بالعربية بالبيت”

“Speak Arabic in the house.”

Far away places can still be seen in the objects and pictures decorating their surroundings. From the tea trays displayed on the shelves to the picture of Mary that sits on the side table, Iraq and Syria are always there.

Picture of Mary                                  Christianity

They continue to incorporate the Middle East into other aspects of their lives such as church. On Palm Sunday, the Jajo family invited me to a church service at a Saint Charbel Maronite Mission, one of the only Maronite churches in the area. Some patrons drive over an hour to attend service every week. The service was conducted in English, Arabic, and Aramaic with the choir singing in all three languages as well. Flowing from one language to the next was second nature to the whole congregation as patrons alternated between Arabic and English when talking to their neighbors. At times, they began a sentence in English, then they moved to Arabic, and then back to English.

Throughout the service, it was apparent that this was a very close knit community. Many congregants were refugees; one person I met arrived in the US only a year ago. The foundation of understanding, support, and generosity that enveloped this community was incredible to witness.

The Jajo familiy has created a new life here in the US founded on great kindness and an honest nature with the desire to do good.


A message from the authors:

As we have been welcomed into their home, their church, and their lives with genuine kindness and hospitality, we are extremely grateful to the Jajo family for their openness in this endeavor. Without this openness, our project would not have made it to this point and refugee voices would not be as loud as they are now.

– Alyssa Sistare and Malena Price


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