SPRINGFIELD – Ali Abdi Omar woke up beside his wife yesterday for the first time in seven years.
They met in a refugee camp after fleeing war in their homeland of Somalia. Their cruel odyssey later found them separated in different refugee camps, with several children in tow, before Omar was relocated to this city as part of a government resettlement program.
On Wednesday night, a plane touched down at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks carrying the family that had filled Omar’s heart and mind every day as he worked several jobs and learned the language of the new country he hoped his family would call home.
“I’m never moving; I’ll show them everywhere,” he said of his long-lost family. “I’d like to buy them what they like.”
Over the years, Omar and Nurto Maki Sakawe would occasionally talk over the telephone. Omar heard his children grow as words replaced the baby’s babble.
Yesterday, his children – Mashail, 13, Antor, 11, and Yasin, 9 – played on a swing set for the first time, moving tentatively at the beginning before breaking into wide grins as their feet pointed toward the sky.
When their father arrived in Springfield in May 2003, he had limited English but boundless aspirations. Confident and skilled, he landed a job within months.
Now a truck mechanic and, in the winter, a snow removal driver at the airport, Omar says he plans to raise the children here.
The reunion was made possible following visa approval from the U.S. State Department. The family is among 12,000 Somalis starting life anew in 30 American cities.
But Omar’s journey was incomplete until now. He told a reporter what the headline of his story should say.
“Make the title of the story say ‘I am all set,”‘ he said.
Omar is now pushing 40. His wife, Nurto Maki Sakawe, is 33. She retains the same magnetism that first drew him to her a world and a lifetime away when she was a teenager, he said.
In some ways, time stood still over the past seven years; in others, it raced ahead.
Considering the complete newness of their environment, the children seem amazingly brave. At 13, Mashail seems a reserved girl, but her foray into a park yesterday ended in a cascade of giggles as she mastered the art of swinging.
Brother Antor’s smile comes easily, while Yasin seems more serious. He withholds judgment solemnly.
Although they had not seen Omar for most of their lives, they respond to his voice, which carries the authority of a father.
Still, the years apart have left a lack of familiarity. The five vacation days Omar has earned will be spent rediscovering his family, he said.
Yesterday, he gently nudged his children on the swings. Even Yasin cracked a smile that his cheeks struggled to contain.
Omar rented a three-bedroom apartment for them this week. There are beds and one chair, and room for all of the joys to come.
Jewish Family Services, one of the leading agencies that resettled about 60 Somali families in Springfield three years ago, will help Omar’s children adjust to the city schools and set up English classes for Sakawe.
In a tradition honoring festive occasions, Sakawe and Mashail had their hands and feet colored with brown and black henna in the shape of flowers, a nostalgic sepia hue, to celebrate their arrival in America.
The trip from Africa included a stopover in Chicago before heading back east to the Hartford airport. It was a long journey, adding even more jet-lagging hours to the seven years.
Through her husband, Sakawe said she was happy but tired. The chill on Wednesday night surprised her.
Omar had asked his shivering family at the airport, “Why are you shaking?”
“It’s cold,” they answered.
Now familiar with New England winters, he laughed, “This is nothing!”
Source: The Republican, April 28, 2006
