The Mbazumutima Family

Dr. Kigabo and Anastasie Mbazumutima came to the Phoenix as refugees in 2004, but their story starts long before that. Both are natives to the Democratic Republic of Congo, where they met and married in university while studying to become healthcare professionals. Kigabo got a scholarship to go to medical school in Benin (West Africa), but shortly after he left the Congo, civil war broke out. Anastasie was able to join him in Benin, but the rest of his family suffered the trauma of a devastating ethnic war. Kigabo's sister was imprisoned in a death camp, along with her nine children. She was saved from the camp and fled to the United States as a refugee, but upon arrival, suffered extreme mental health problems and struggled to take care of her family. She called on Kigabo and Anastasie to join her in the U.S. and help her raise her children.

Kigabo and Anastasie were considered refugees while living in Benin, but making the jump to resettlement on a different continent was a whole other story. They applied for resettlement in the United States, and then waited four long years to be approved. Much of this waiting was caused by changes in immigration laws and sentiment after 9/11, as well as the birth of their third child. However, some of this delay was due to hesitation on the part of Anastasie and Kigabo, primarily because they were holding out hope that the war in their country would end. The couple had also dreamed of empowering their nation through healthcare, and now, it seemed like they had to make an impossible choose between their helping their family and or pursuing their lifelong dreams and aspirations. To go to America would mean that Kigabo, a medical doctor, and Anastasie, a nurse, would need to give up their medical credentials and start over from zero.

"There was a time where we hesitated to come because our hope was for peace to be back in Congo," Kigabo explained. "It was our dream to pursue medical training and for us to go back home to help people, to treat people. So coming here (the U.S.) was like, 'Okay, is all of this idea of making a difference in healthcare going to go away?' "

Despite their hesitation, when granted asylum in the U.S., the family decided to leave Africa for Arizona. They arrived at the Phoenix airport, with three young children, no jobs, no English language skills, and no transferable educational credentials. They came through Betania Community Center, a local refugee resettlement agency that has since closed. The agency helped them get housing, small job opportunities, and food stamps. However, the Mbazumutima family gives most of the credit for their successful resettlement to Bonnie Lloyd, a local women who had befriended Kigabo's sister. When they came to the U.S., Bonnie helped them with whatever they needed; she drove them to wherever they needed to go, introduced them to a local church community, helped them practice English, and much more. The amazing thing was the Bonnie was not employed by any refugee agency, but acted out of the goodness of her heart.

Now, Kigabo and Anastasie have lived in Phoenix for thirteen years and have become a perfect representation of the goal of refugee resettlement and integration in the United States. They have raised 6 beautiful children, who all excel in academic and extracurriculars. The parents expressed that it had been difficult to raise their children because they were suspended between two cultures; the American culture and the vibrant Congolese immigrant community. However, Natasha, their third oldest child and only daughter, shared that as she got older, she was taking on more responsibility and social awareness, which was leading her to become more involved with the Congolese community.

The couple had also been worried about how their move would inhibit their ability to live out their dreams of impacting healthcare. But now, both Kigabo and Anastasie work as medical professionals with a wide influence. Anastasie is a registered nurse at a local hospital, and Kigabo, after completing a Masters in Public Health Administration, started his own non-profit that seeks to empower the African healthcare system. None of it was easy- both had to balance school on top of working multiple jobs, raising 6 children, and struggling with integration into American society. But today, they are both living out their dreams and positively impacting the local and global community.

Their journey was not easy. It was marked with much pain, a lot of waiting, and many challenges. However, the Mbazumutima family never lost hope. These former refugees shared so much about hope; hope for the Congo, hope for themselves, and hope for America. Their journey points to the fact that hope is never lost and that it is never to late to achieve your dreams.

"We go to this unknown place, with a different language, with a different culture. How are we going to integrate? How are we going to live or to survive? And when they come here, they have very little information. They don’t even know where to go to look for basic things….But for a refugee, it can take him years to have the information that he could have known the first day." - Kigabo Mbazumutima

"We don’t want to ignore that it’s not easy. When we just land in a big country like this and we don’t speak the language...we’ve got nowhere to go. It’s very hard. Even if we get kind of used to it and we find our way sometimes, but it took a long time to know what to do, how to go and ask for a job, especially when we came." -Anastasie

“We don’t really think of it because it was the norm for us. We’re aware that our community is a community of refugees and immigrants, but at the same time it's a community that we’ve grown accustomed to being in. Even if we aren’t completely integrated in it, it’s something that we’re aware of but we don’t think of it.” - Tasha

“When we start, we don’t know the network. We have a heavy accent. We have the background of refugee. It may take more effort to succeed but it can still make it happen. Let’s make it happen! Let’s get help! Let’s pray about it! It’s gonna work...and it’s working. Slowly...but it’s working." -Kigabo