Today we’d like to introduce you to Ruth Lomo.
Hi Ruth, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
My name is Ruth Lomo. I was born in 1970 to a loving family in a small village in what is now South Sudan. In 1990, civil war broke out and I had to flee for my life with my small children. We walked for three days from South Sudan through Congo to Uganda. We spent 5 years in Uganda, where my sister and her children joined us after fleeing on foot as well. In 1995, we all left for the Dadaab refugee camp, one of the largest in the world, because there was a small possibility for resettlement. I knew that meant a better life for my children. But life in Dadaab was almost unspeakably horrible. It is a dessert. People in the camp were desperate. We did not receive regular food assistance for over one year. My sister and my young nephew became ill, and without proper nutrition or medical care, we lost them. My eight nieces and nephews then came under my care. After 6 years of living in Dadaab, my family received notice that we were one of the 1% of global refugees allowed to resettle in a new country. I arrived in Memphis in 2001 with responsibility for 13 children.
We were so thankful for the opportunity to start a new life, but life was still hard. I was a single mother with limited education, few marketable skills, and no resources. Over time, I built a new village in Memphis, full of both refugee and American friends. I was able to provide for my family, find mentors for my children, and in time give back to my community. I founded a business and two nonprofit organizations. A personal hygiene business in my home village was successful from 2012 until the war broke out again in 2016. However, both Refugee Empowerment Program (REP) located here in the great city of Memphis and Ebenezer Global Hub in Bidi Bidi refugee camp in Uganda are both thriving. I thank God, my family, my fellow refugees, and my compassionate American friends for everything I have been able to accomplish in my life so far.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My challenges have changed as my life has changed. My first major obstacle came when I was 12 and my older sister died in childbirth. I came from a poor, large family, and she had been paying my school fees. My only option was to raise the funds myself, which I did by learning to brew and sell beer during the summer holiday. I built a nice life for myself and my children, but then came the war. I had to gather the strength to flee with my babies. Living in the refugee camp had moments of hope and happiness, but mostly life was full of fear and difficulty. Once I arrived in Memphis, I learned how hard life is here for single parents. For a while, there was no one to help me earn income or ensure the children had what they needed. But God provided American friends to walk alongside us on the journey. New challenges arose when I began the work that would become REP. I knew the cries of my fellow refugees struggling to make it, struggling to help their kids. I began to ask Americans for help to start an afterschool program in Binghampton. But knocking on doors and asking for peoples’ time and money was also hard. They wanted business strategies, budgets, and 5-year plans.
I had plenty of expertise, but none to provide that. Over time, I found people with a heart for service who shared my vision of empowering and uplifting my community. Since our small start in 2002, we have built REP, the only ethnic community-based organization currently operating in the Mid-South. There have been plenty of other challenges with this work, my work in my home village, and my work in Bidi Bidi. But with God’s love and mercy and the support of family, friends, and donors, I always find the strength to keep going. I know that every human life has value and that the work of the refugees will never be done.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I guess I am an accidental entrepreneur. I never understood myself to be an entrepreneur, but when I look back on my life, I guess I am. I did what I needed to do to survive, support my family, and uplift humanity as Jesus calls us to do. I learned to brew beer to pay for high school. I learned carpentry in the refugee camp, so I had a little extra money to buy food for the children. At first, I worked in carpentry when I resettled in Memphis, but the job site was too loud to be able to translate for other refugees. Instead, I cleaned homes so I could be more available. Later, I started a cleaning business to help provide job opportunities for new refugees. I knew that at least under my supervision, they would be paid fairly and respected on the job.
That work also gave me the flexibility I needed to travel back and forth to Africa to share everything I had learned about entrepreneurship. I wanted my people to have more knowledge to improve their lives and create more opportunities. Eventually, REP’s executive director convinced me to come on staff, and I have worked as the Director of Advocacy and Inclusion at REP for over 2 years. At REP, I lead a team of Cultural Brokers, and together with other staff, we walk alongside refugees as they build new lives in Memphis. We help individuals and families learn their rights and responsibilities, enroll children in school, navigate the healthcare system, obtain driver’s licenses, become citizens, secure housing, and so much more. I also advocate for the strengths and needs of refugees with local government, businesses, schools, community partners, landlords, and others. I help them understand who refugees and immigrants are, as well as the best practices for helping them integrate into society. I am proud to help newcomers find their voice in a new land and to ensure others understand their value and their humanity.
What matters most to you? Why?
For me, loving people matters. Valuing everyone’s humanity matters. Helping someone change their life for the better matters. When I came to Memphis, loving people poured into me and my children. It is in my heart to help other refugees find their way. When someone feels they belong, they can believe in their dreams. They have hope. They can thrive and give back. I love meeting people where they are and helping them get where they want to go. It also matters that people understand what happens when refugees are resettled in the US. Refugee children are placed in grades according to their age, not their abilities. Often, no one in the home speaks English, and no adults at school speak their language or understand their culture.
For students who have been forced from their homelands, denied formal education, and who have experienced significant trauma, this is a hard journey. It is full of confusion, pain, rejection, acceptance, joy, love, and hope all mixed together. Organizations like REP support students, families, and schools and are so important in ensuring children get the support they need to survive and thrive in a new country. People should also understand that parents are not a throwaway generation. Too often they are seen as the past and not the future. But they have their own hopes, dreams, and struggles. They deserve compassion and a helping hand. For this reason, at REP and in Bidi Bidi, we focus on individuals, families, and the community as a whole.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.repmemphis.org
- Instagram: @901empowerment
- Facebook: @901.org
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/refugee-empowerment-program/
- Youtube: @refugeeempowermentprogram3751
Image Credits
Big Love Productions
