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- We begin with a story involving incredible courage and unending hope.
Over the last 17 years, some 270 refugees from the war-torn Democratic Republic of the
Congo have resettled here, in Milwaukee County.
Edumakono Zetho is one of those refugees.
10thirtysix producers first met him nearly a year ago and learned of his heartbreaking
experiences and his courageous journey to Milwaukee.
Listen carefully as to why he now has a hope for tomorrow.
- I thanks God all the time to see my children here.
They can live in a country that they're safe.
They can become someone.
There is no hope for tomorrow in my country.
Hey.
- [Jim] Former refugee, Edumakono Zetho holds on tight to these tiny fingers.
He loves being a father to his newborn son, and to his two older children, King David
and Davina.
Zetho, as he is often called, and his wife, Betty, are at peace, knowing that their American-born
children are much safer than they were as children living in the DRC in Central Africa.
- I was born in Democratic Republic of the Congo.
But I didn't get a chance to live in my country because of the war.
Back home, the friends of mine, we were in the seven year school.
They're now...
They were murdered.
If you go back in Congo, oh my goodness, it's blood everywhere.
- [Jim] The bloodshed from armed conflict, political violence,
and corruption, has plagued the DRC for decades.
From the early 1990s, til about 2016, the eastern Congo, where Zetho and his wife are
from, has been home to the world's deadliest war since World War Two.
The United Nations says seven million people were murdered during that time period.
- And we all know if the United Nations gives a statistic like that, we know it's more than
seven million, for sure.
- [Jim] The DRC's vast mineral wealth, including gold, tantalum, tungsten and tin, has fueled
the fighting in the DRC.
These minerals are used in cellphones and laptops.
Armed groups use the profits from the sales for campaigns of violence, while the DRC's
people continue to live in extreme poverty.
- Diamonds, zinc, coltan...
All of those minerals involved war in the country.
All of the developed countries need those resources to make companies run.
But for us, as Congolese, we never have hope and peace in our own country.
- [Jim] A big United Nations force tries to keep the peace in the DRC, though conflicts
continue.
Children and families remain in harm's way, with many still facing starvation and sickness.
The country's women and girls often become victims of *** assault and ***.
Zetho knows that pain all too well.
- My mom was a victim of sex harassment and sex abuse in front of my eyes, which is something
that I take...
Painful in my life that, I don't know how I can take it out.
- [Jim] Heartache intensified when the ugliness of the Congo conflict devastated his family
even more.
- My dad and my two sisters was murdered in front of my eyes.
Imagine, that's life.
It's hard.
It's hard.
- [Jim] A young Zetho went through therapy to help him cope.
He still thinks about his father and his father's advice, especially now that he himself is
a father to three, young children.
This is what he used to tell me.
The future of any person depends on what you do today.
So just focus on the education, make sure that you go to school, you can become someone.
- [Jim] Zetho and his family took that message to heart.
Escaping the Congo, and traveling by boat for two days to a refugee camp, Nyarugusu,
in Tanzania.
Zetho was only ten years old, hoping for a better future, to become that someone.
- We just leave by the grace of God, that's all we said.
And we still have hope that one day, things may change.
With faith, and as a Christian, we say we have hope in God.
We made it.
It's better to live in a camp than Congo, because in the refugee camp, we were secured
with the United Nation Commission of the Refugees.
At the point of security, yes, the camp was much better than the Democratic Republic of
Congo.
But you don't have access to go outside, you have to be just in the camp.
- [Jim] Zetho, his mother, and younger brother and sister, were among the approximately 150,000
refugees in this camp, the United Nations calling it one of the largest refugee camps
in the world.
They lived in unimaginable conditions over the course of 15 years.
- Just imagine, you live in a country, or in a camp that has no electricity.
There is no proper water that you can drink.
We share water with animals.
We have to wake up early in the morning, maybe four or five A.M. to get water that you're
going to drink.
Imagine you live in a place, that...
Sometimes it's four to five pounds of rice that you have to eat for two weeks.
It's a hard life and everyone is stressed out.
Everyone is burnt out.
- [Jim] Battling through the hardships, Zetho received his high school diploma while in
the camp.
He also earned a college associates degree, became a teacher, and a supervisor of a daycare.
The camp is also where he met his future wife, Betty.
Zetho and his family eventually were asked to participate in the Refugee Resettlement
Program.
The United Nations Refugee Agency oversees the process and identifies cases to be referred
to resettlement countries.
Refugees do not apply for resettlement themselves.
- Because of our story, because of our struggle that we have, they decided to give us a chance,
a new hope, to move to the United States.
- [Jim] The UN Refugee Office only refers the most vulnerable cases, refugees whose
lives are in danger in their current host country.
According to the UN, less than 1% of the world's refugees are ever resettled.
- When you start the process of resettlement, you don't choose it, you don't know where
you'll go.
- [Jim] 48 hours of air travel later, Zetho and his family arrived in their new hometown.
- I had a big expectation of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
I knew...
The way we read the United States in books, up there, it's like heaven.
So, you have everything.
And you get in Milwaukee something different.
You know, it's cold, there is snow.
And I remember the first time I saw snow, I said to myself, "What is this?"
So, you know, it was funny somehow, but we thank God that we are here.
When I came in 2012, I spoke Swahili, French, Ligala, Berber, and Chinoba.
No English at all.
I quickly learned English at MATC.
I don't think I made it because I'm smart, but I believe it's by God's grace.
- [Jim] Strong faith definitely lifts Zetho's soul.
And greatly influences his family life.
- We don't have another legacy to our children besides God.
So we teach them how to be kind, how to pray, how to be thankful to other people.
- [Jim] A lesson learned and practiced at home and at Sunday services each week.
- [Zetho] Dear God, I did not sleep well last night, but I did wake up.
- [Jim] God is a constant in his life.
As a Refugee Case Manager for Catholic Charities in Milwaukee, Zetho begins each work day with
a prayer he keeps on his desk.
- [Zetho] I may not have all I want, but I have all I need.
My life is not perfect, but my life is good.
- [Jim] Appreciating the good life and the little things become even more important for
Zetho as he keeps an eye on what's happening in the Congo.
He reflects on what could have been.
- Maybe, I'd have been dead already.
I would not be alive.
- [Jim] His new life in Milwaukee and in the United States became very real on March 22,
2018.
He took another important step in moving forward and becoming that someone.
Supporting him, his mother, children and wife, Betty, who took this very same step a year
earlier.
- [Man] Raise your right hands, and say after me.
That I will perform work of national importance,
- That I will perform work of national importance.
- [Man] Under civilian direction.
- Under civilian direction.
- [Man] When required by the law.
- When required by the law.
- [Man] And I take this obligation freely.
- And that I would take this obligation freely.
- [Man] Without any mental reservation,
- Without any mental reservation,
- [Man] Or purpose of evasion
- Or purpose of evasion
- [Man] So help me God.
- So help me God.
- [Man] Congratulations, let's give a had to these brand new Americans!
Outstanding!
Outstanding!
- Oh my goodness, I cannot believe it.
I'm so, so excited.
I'd never claim myself as a citizen of any country, even though I was born in the Congo.
But now, this is the time that I can declare myself, like I'm a citizen.
My goal is to serve, protect and respect the Constitution and laws of the United States.
I believe this is a nation of immigrants and refugees.
So, together, we can move forward, the country.
Together, we can succeed.
Together, we can make a better place to live for all the people.