Lewiston's Somali surge

By KELLEY BOUCHARD, Portland Press Herald Writer

Copyright © 2002 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

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	Staff photo by Gregory Rec Yasmin Abdulla, left, plays basketball with her sister Hibo, right, and their friend Sagal Jama in Kennedy Park in Lewiston last week.
	SOMALI CULTURE Somalia is an arid arrow of land that forms the so-called horn of Africa, jutting eastward into the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden. It is bordered by Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti. To top of story
	Staff photo by Gregory Rec Two Somali women pass by the entrance to the former St. Mary's Church in Lewiston, which now houses the Franco-American Heritage Center. Somali women in traditional dress are seen all over the city that is home to six Catholic churches and a large Franco-American population.
	SOMALI CULTURE Somalia has been ravaged by civil war for decades. It was colonized in the 1800s by Italy, France and Britain. The foreign authority intensified Somalis' defiance of being ruled by outsiders and heightened clan rivalries still felt today. To top of story
	Staff photo by Gregory Rec James Teehan put up this sign at his Lewiston home in protest of the city's assistance to newly arrived Somalis. "Why are we taking care of them before we take care of our own?" he said. "Immigration had its place at a certain time. That time has come and gone."
	SOMALI CULTURE Somalia has been without a functioning government and suffering from clan infighting since the 22-year regime of Major General Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in January 1991. Beginning in 1993, a U.N. humanitarian effort including U.S. forces was able to alleviate famine conditions. However, when the United Nations withdrew in 1995, having suffered significant casualties, order still had not been restored. While chaos continues in most of Somalia, some orderly government has been established in the north and northeast. To top of story
	Staff photo by Gregory Rec Mako Bile listens to a speaker during Somali culture night at the Franco-American Heritage Center in Lewiston.
	SOMALI CULTURE Somalia is a male-centered society — at least in public — that is organized into clans and subclans. Family lineage is of supreme importance to most Somalis. Children take their father's last name and women keep their last name when they marry. One-fifth of all Somali families are polygamous, which is allowed under Islamic law if the man can afford more than one wife. Somali women traditionally don't work outside the home, although this is changing as more women become educated and families require two incomes. To top of story
	Staff photo by Gregory Rec Yasmin Abdulla, 8, spins around a pole at the end of Somali culture night last week at the Franco-American Heritage Center in Lewiston. In the background, Phil Nadeau, Lewiston's assistant city administrator, talks with Roda Abdi, one of the organizers of the event.
	SOMALI CULTURE According to estimates from the early 1990s, 60 percent of 8 million Somalis are still nomadic herdsmen whose main livestock are camels, goats and cows. The rest of the population operate subsistence farms, are fishermen or live in towns and cities, the largest being the capital of Mogadishu. To top of story
	Staff photo by Gregory Rec People peruse a buffet line of traditional Somali food during a Somali culture night at the Franco-American Heritage Center in Lewison.
	SOMALI CULTURE Nearly all Somalis are Sunni Muslims. Ritual prayers are said five times each day. The tenth month of the Muslim calendar is the holiest month, known as Ramadan. All believers are expected to fast during daytime hours unless health reasons make it impossible. Pork and alcohol are prohibited by Islam. Somalis have a rich tradition of oral communication, relying on poetry and song to pass on history, religion and news. First written down for widespread use in 1972, the Somali language uses the Latin alphabet but omits the letters P, V and Z. While elementary school is compulsory, few children attend regularly and only 24 percent of the adult population can read and write (36 percent of men, 14 percent of women). However, many Somalis speak several languages, including Italian, French, English and Arabic. Somalis say hello by bidding each other peace, as in "Assalam Alaikum" (Peace be upon you) or "Nabad miyaa" (How are you? — or literally — Are you in peace?). Handshakes are the most common greeting in Somalia, although men shake hands only with men, and women with women. Direct eye contact with the opposite sex is considered immodest. Sources: United Nations, Library of Congress, Minnesota Department of Human Rights, Ali Sharif Abdullahi and the Jewish Vocational Service of Boston, CIA World Factbook 2000 and culturalorientation.net. To top of story

LEWISTON — It is a driving force for the nomadic herdsmen who live on Somalia's vast, arid plains.

They move their livestock from one watering hole to the next, each a shrinking remnant of the gu, the monsoon season when most marriages and festivals take place.

For the rest of the year the herdsmen look to the sky, hoping to see clouds ahead. They send out sahans, young scouts who search for lightning, a sure sign that a storm is brewing on the horizon.

"We always go where the rain is going to fall," said Omar Hamed, 48, one of the newest members of Maine's growing Somali community.

Right now, it's pouring in Lewiston.

Hamed — formerly a schoolbook translator in Somalia, now a welfare caseworker in Lewiston — is one of 800 to 1,000 Somalis who have moved to this once-bustling mill town in the last year. Another 1,000 are expected to come this summer, most of them from Atlanta. Victims of Somalia's lengthy civil war, they have chosen Maine for its low crime rate. They are bypassing Portland for Lewiston's cheaper, more plentiful housing.

As a result, this largely white, Franco-American city of 36,000 may be on the cusp of its greatest social and economic change since the area's textile mills and shoe factories started closing in the late 1950s. Some are prepared for Lewiston to take its place in an American landscape that grows more diverse with each passing decade. Others don't like it at all.

The city has responded to such a large and rapid influx of newcomers. Signs offering translator services are posted throughout City Hall. The city's Web site now has a Somali information page. Social workers help Somalis find apartments, navigate massive supermarkets and understand the school and health care systems. Employment counselors take extra time putting together resumes and explaining the nuances of job hunting. Teachers and volunteers give classes in everything from English to American culture.

Somalis are working hard to settle in, too. They have opened a storefront Islamic mosque, a nonprofit community center and a variety store on Lisbon Street, once the city's main shopping thoroughfare. Women wearing colorful head scarves called hijab are seen everywhere in a city dominated by the spires of six Roman Catholic churches. Last Wednesday, the Somali community hosted an evening of food and culture at the Franco-American Heritage Center. More than 300 people attended.

Still, city officials estimate that only about 40 of the 400 to 500 Somali adults living in Lewiston are working. The local labor market offers little for unskilled workers who don't speak English well or lack high school diplomas. At the same time, the annual welfare budget for this financially strapped city has doubled to $200,000 because many Somalis are seeking rental and food assistance. Lewiston's Adult Learning Center, where half of the students are now Somali, is so packed that some classes are held in a stairwell. Lewiston has received $200,000 in federal grant assistance already, for additional caseworkers and an adult education teacher, but city leaders plan to ask state and federal officials for more help.

The Somalis' arrival has strained Lewiston's limited resources and rattled city and school officials who are trying to hold down taxes. It has stirred reactions among longtime residents that range from genuine support to outright bigotry. One Lewiston man shares his disdain for newcomers with signs posted in front of his house. Another man, 33-year-old Samuel Gaiewski, has been charged with a hate crime for using a racial slur when he allegedly threatened to kill a Somali man during a parking confrontation last January.

"There is an undercurrent of resentment of people who are coming," said Mayor Laurier Raymond. "I don't think it's racial. I don't think it's religious. I think it's dollars and cents. I think the citizenry is genuinely concerned about the impact on their taxes. We probably should be flattered they've picked Lewiston. Unfortunately, many of them don't come with any money and they don't have jobs, and there is some resentment of that."

Leaders in the Somali community are aware of the growing concern. When the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram reported earlier this month that another 500 to 1,000 Somalis from Atlanta are expected to move to Lewiston this summer, one Somali leader went on Atlanta's Somali radio station and told them not to come. In response, Abdiaziz Ali, the Somali case manager in Lewiston's general assistance office, made a follow-up announcement saying that Somalis are welcome in Lewiston, but that they should meter their arrival.

"The problem is, as I see it, if they come too fast," said Sue Charron, Lewiston's general assistance director. "In the past couple of months, people have been more vocal about their concern. I think we need to simmer things down. We need to get the word out that we welcome you and we want you, but you can't come all at once."

Somalis started moving to Lewiston in February 2001, after they arrived in Portland and found that the only available housing was the city's family homeless shelter. Lewiston landlords started calling Portland officials to say they had plenty of apartments for rent.

In recent years, as Lewiston's population declined (4,000 people left in the last decade alone), rentals became increasingly available. Five years ago, before the city began tearing down substandard apartment buildings, the vacancy rate was as high as 20 percent. Now, by some estimates, the vacancy rate is closer to 7 percent. That's roomy compared to Portland's estimated 3 percent vacancy rate.

It's unclear how long Lewiston's vacancy rate will remain favorable. Many Somalis have found housing in Lewiston's downtown tenements. Others are renting through the Lewiston Housing Authority, where the waiting list for federally subsidized apartments has grown from 130 families last year to 230 families today. Somalis now occupy one-quarter of the 94 townhouse units in Hillview Apartments, one of the city's suburban housing projects.

"It has become the most popular destination (for Somali families)," said James Dowling, executive director of the housing authority.

The estimate that as many as 1,000 Somalis may move to Lewiston this summer comes from a variety of sources within the Somali community. While some Lewiston officials and even some Somalis dispute or downplay the anticipated number of summer arrivals, officials in Portland and Atlanta have learned to respect the accuracy of the Somali rumor mill. Barbara Cocchi, a regional director of World Relief Corp., one of five refugee resettlement agencies in Atlanta, said Somali elders have told her that more than 1,000 are planning to relocate to Lewiston soon after school ends in June.

"It's not about being alarmist," said Gerald Cayer, Portland's director of health and human services. "From my perspective, it means how do we help Lewiston work on the issues that will arise."

Lewiston officials have reason to be concerned. If another 1,000 Somalis move here this summer, in less than two years Lewiston will have a Somali population that rivals the estimated 2,200 Somalis who have settled in Portland (pop. 65,000) over the last 15 years. And Lewiston has little of the social service or employment infrastructure that Portland, as Maine's largest city, has developed over the years to serve a diverse immigrant population. In comparison, there are 4,000 Somalis in greater Atlanta (pop. 3.4 million), and more than 50,000 in greater Minneapolis (pop. 2.8 million). A few Somali families have already moved to Auburn (pop. 23,000), Lewiston's sister city across the Androscoggin River.

Somalis say they are moving to Maine because they like its small-town feel, comparatively low crime rate and lack of racial conflict. Somalis have experienced tensions with established African-American populations in larger U.S. cities. They say Somali elders chose Maine after visiting several other states.

Statistically, Maine ranks 46th on the FBI crime index, while Georgia ranks 13th. Maine also is the whitest state in the nation, with a minority population of 3 percent, according to the 2000 Census. In Lewiston, black, Asian, Hispanic and other minorities represent about 5 percent of the population, including a handful of French-speaking Togolese families who moved here in 2000.

"In Atlanta, we were concerned the whole day what we would find when we got home," said Mohammed Abdi, the Somali community/parent specialist in Lewiston schools. "Here, our children can go out in the afternoon and ride their bicycles and come home when the sun goes down, and we do not have to worry."

Most Somali refugees in the United States came from refugee camps in Kenya. Many Somalis in Portland were initially settled by Catholic Charities Maine, the state's primary, federally funded refugee resettlement agency. Many Somalis who are relocating to Lewiston from other states are no longer eligible for federal refugee assistance. As a result, those who cannot find work rely on city, state and federal welfare programs.

Since February 2001, a total of 210 Somali families (more than 600 individuals) have been served by Lewiston's general assistance office, Charron said. At this time, 200 Somali families (563 individuals) are receiving food and housing vouchers. Among them, 339 are children, 224 are adults.

The adults include 16 Somalis who are in the country illegally and have applied for asylum. While they wait for their cases to be decided, which could take more than a year, they are prohibited from working and ineligible for any public assistance other than the city's welfare program.

Charron said Somalis now make up 22 percent of the people getting welfare from the city, and she expects general assistance spending to continue to grow if the Somali population increases as predicted.

Another 48 Somali families in Lewiston are getting Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, said Pierrot Rugaba, the state's refugee coordinator. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families is a federally funded program administered by the state that provides monthly stipends of about $125 per family member.

Financial costs aside, various agencies in the city are stepping up efforts to coordinate services for the Somali community. City officials have been meeting with Somali leaders to get a better understanding of how many are coming and what services they will need. Police have held similar meetings to explain local laws and better understand Somali culture and family life.

One place Lewiston is benefiting financially from the infusion of newcomers is in its schools, where the city is spending an extra $250,000 on staff and programs for Somali students.

Lewiston's student population had dropped from 5,196 in 1990 to 4,439 in 2000. With its lower property values and the addition of 205 Somali students during the last year, Lewiston's state education subsidy increased $1.2 million this year to $18.2 million. Portland, which lost some students and saw its property values skyrocket, lost $1.8 million in state aid.

What worries Lewiston school officials is that federal grant funding has grown scarce for education programs like those that helped Portland establish a nationally recognized multicultural center in its schools. Still, Lewiston school officials say they are doing their best to welcome Somali students, with diversity training, civil rights teams and cultural heritage events.

"It's not something we planned for or encouraged," said Leon Levesque, Lewiston's school superintendent. "We're mandated and obligated by state and federal law to provide an education to all students in our community and that's what we're going to do."

If the Somali community continues to grow, Lewiston officials expect it to become more difficult to maintain services for all children. That time may arrive sooner than hoped. By some estimates, there are about 200 Somali children already living in Lewiston who are under school age but will soon be entering the system.

While Lewiston is attracting Somalis from various U.S. cities, most are coming from greater Atlanta, which lost 60,000 jobs after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Lewiston-Auburn hasn't fared much better.

Business leaders say good jobs are still available in the Twin Cities, but the manufacturing jobs that attracted thousands of French Canadians in the late 1800s and early 1900s are gone. Lewiston-Auburn saw its job market shrink 2.9 percent last year — the ninth largest percentage decline in the country among metropolitan areas, according to CBS Marketwatch. Lewiston-Auburn's unemployment rate is 4.5 percent, compared to 2.9 percent in Portland and 6.1 percent in the United States overall.

Rose Hodges, an employment and training specialist at Lewiston's Career Center, said the local job market is tight. A year ago she typically had two or three pages of job openings. Now she has only one page. And the available jobs usually require applicants who speak English and have a high school diploma or can pass a test that requires high school reading and math skills. While some Somalis are well educated and are attending the University of Southern Maine in Lewiston and Portland, others have no education at all. Some are willing to commute to find work, but that prospect is difficult if they don't own a car.

"We have jobs available, but they may not be suitable for some Somalis," Hodges said. "Some (Somalis) are very employable. Some of them are not. We are making every effort to find them employment. Those we have placed have had good results."

Several large employers in Lewiston-Auburn have hired Somalis, including Gates Formed-Fibre Products Inc., Bell Manufacturing Co., Tambrands Inc., St. Mary's Regional Medical Center and Central Maine Medical Center.

Charles Morrison, president of the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce, said results have been mixed. While some Somalis have worked elsewhere in the United States, those who are unfamiliar with the American workplace require extra training. Some Somalis have become model employees. Others have had a difficult time adjusting to new concepts such as showing up on time, calling in sick and giving two weeks notice before leaving a job. So far, the need to pray during the workday and the safety hazard of long clothing worn by most Somali women haven't become problems as they have in other cities.

"This is a long-term adjustment for everybody," Morrison said. "People who do good work and maintain the standards are going to keep their jobs and be promoted, no matter who they are."

Despite the lack of jobs in Lewiston, Somalis are coming because they want to find a safe place to live. Many endured years of violence and famine in their home country, which still has no functioning government.

"Safety comes first," said Abdiaziz Ali, 32, who is married and has five children. Ali left a high-tech manufacturing job in Atlanta that paid $16 an hour to find work in Lewiston last spring. He was hired by the city four days after he arrived. He said those who are motivated to work will find jobs, even if they must first learn to read and write English.

Somalis deny they are coming because they have heard Maine's welfare system is easier, a perception state officials say is unfounded. Since 1994, the number of Maine families on welfare has dropped from 23,200 to 11,000 because of welfare reform, said Judy Williams, the state's director of family independence. Somalis say they want to work and are ashamed to be on welfare.

"Many people believe Somalis come to Lewiston for the welfare, but it's not true," said Mohamed Hassan, 34, one of two Somalis who work at Bell Manufacturing Co., a clothing label maker in Lewiston. "We come here because it is a good place and because the people who live here are very, very nice people."

Still, some Lewiston residents wonder why the city bends over backward to make Somalis feel welcome when their French, Irish, German or Italian ancestors were mistreated when they arrived more than a century ago.

James Teehan has posted two large signs in front of his Sylvan Avenue home that have drawn widespread notice. Orange letters neatly stenciled on plywood ask why the city helps Somalis when veterans and homeless people go without and American soldiers fight in the Middle East.

"I was so irritated, I had to do something," said Teehan, a 33-year-old flooring contractor. "Why are we taking care of them before we take care of our own? . . . Immigration had its place at a certain time. That time has come and gone."

People with that mind-set only get so far with Phil Nadeau, Lewiston's assistant city manager and point man on the Somali issue. Nadeau is preparing a report on Lewiston's rapidly growing Somali population in an effort to win support from Gov. Angus King and Maine's congressional delegation for expanded job training, adult education and general assistance programs.

Nadeau acknowledges a certain amount of pride in the fact that his French Canadian forebears overcame great odds to make it in America. In Lewiston, some children were beaten for speaking French in school. Workers who couldn't speak English often got the lowest-paying jobs. But Nadeau rails against the idea that immigrants today should face the same trials. He notes that the social service programs available to Lewiston's Somalis are available to any American, no matter where they live. And he sees obvious benefits from an infusion of culture and residents in a city that has been losing population for decades.

"God bless the tenacity of our grandparents and great-grandparents," Nadeau said. "But the fact remains that laws have been created because we've learned that putting up barriers isn't the best way to integrate newcomers into our community."

So far, that integration has gone pretty smoothly. Observers marvel at the way Lewiston has accepted the challenge of welcoming such a rapid infusion of newcomers. The next step, most agree, is getting them working.

"Right now, I don't see a problem," said Sgt. Michael McGonagle, spokesman for the Lewiston police. "But if the Somali community continues to grow and they don't find work, there may be conflicts within the Somali community and with the community at large."

Somalis who are already in Lewiston downplay the concern over those who are expected to follow. Eventually, they say, if housing in Lewiston-Auburn gets scarce and jobs remain hard to find, word will spread to the Somali community outside Maine.

"Down the road, the reality will set in and people will stop coming," Abdi said.

And they will look elsewhere for signs of rain.

Staff Writer Kelley Bouchard can be contacted at 791-6328 or at: kbouchard@pressherald.com

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