Press Releasse

CONTACTS:

Micklina Kenyi
CSAW Founder/Director
Phone: (720) 447-4032
Email: micklina@csawcolorado.org


Leslie Pacheco
CSAW Intern
Phone: (760)673-9315
Email:lesliepacheco@gmail.com


FOR RELEASE FRIDAY MAY 28, 2010

LOST NO MORE: THE LOST BOYS AND GIRLS OF SUDAN FIND ONE ANOTHER
Sudanese Refugees Reunite with Loved Ones in Boulder


Boulder, CO May 28, 2010, Voices speaking Didinga, Swahili, Arabic and English fill the air and the atmosphere is charged with excitement as Sudanese refugees gather in Boulder for the first ever Sudanese Community Outreach Conference. Sudanese refugees have come from across the United States and Canada with the hope of reuniting with family from whom they have been separated for over two decades.

The three-day conference was organized by the Community of Sudanese and American Women (CSAW) located here in Boulder. CSAW founder and director, Micklina Peter Kenyi, herself a refugee from Sudan, expressed her excitement for the conference and the chance to reunite with long lost relatives, “For us to all be together is a big deal.” According to Kenyi it has been over 20 years since many of the refugees have seen family members.

Almost as exciting as being reuniting with family is the chance to reunite with the keynote speaker of the conference Sister Luise Radlmeier, who played a key role in resettling the majority of the 160 conference participants in North America.

Violent conflict forced these individuals to flee Sudan and settle into refugee camps in Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. The squalid conditions of the refugee camp attracted the attention of Radlmeier who took refugee children into her orphanage and ensured their education. Many of these children were resettled into North American and became known in the media as the Lost Boys and Girls of Sudan.

Radlmeier expressed her joy in reuniting with the children, now adults, from her orphanage and meeting the new generation. “I am eager to hear the successes” stated Radlmeier, who was encouraged by how well her “children” are doing in the countries of resettlement.

This conference is the first of its kind to be held in Boulder. The theme of this year’s conference is “We Are the Engines of Change in Sudan.” The conference provides an opportunity for Sudanese refugees resettled in North America to identify existing problems in their community, raise levels of awareness and provide viable solutions to address challenges affecting them directly and indirectly in their new country of resettlement.

CSAW is a Boulder, Colorado based non-denominational, non-profit organization dedicated to empowering Sudanese refugee women through education. The organization assists with educational, housing, and job opportunities, as well as health-care services to help with the hurdles of acculturation in order to foster self sufficiency.

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If you would like more information about the event or to schedule an interview please contact
Micklina Kenyi at (720) 447-4032 or by email at micklina@csawcolorado.org