May 2009--Living With Peace-a gathering of neighbors

Living With Peace-—Neighbors Easing the Way for Newcomers to the Community
History: In December, 2006, Ismael Ahmed, Somali leader in Lewiston and at that time a Cultural Skills Trainer for Catholic Charities Maine, gave the opening address at the Maine Neighborhoods: Building Strong Communities Conference, organized and presented by Munjoy Hill Resident Christina Feller, leader of the civic group the League of Maine Neighborhoods, on the topic of establishing immigrant self-help groups or mutual aid associations.
Simultaneously, Ms. Feller was working with leaders of the Banyamulenge Tribal community of Portland, to establish a nonprofit organization to support the Community’s successful acculturation to American ways. The three groups joined forces and established Living With Peace as a nonprofit corporation in Maine in March of 2007 with a mission to strengthen the capacity of immigrants to acculturate to life in Portland and Lewiston, Maine. Shortly thereafter, Living With Peace received fiscal sponsorships approvals from Catholic Charities Maine, Resources for Organizing and Social Change (ROSC) and the Munjoy Hill Neighborhood Organization.
We actively partner with both neighborhood-based groups, churches and other nonprofits to
1) provide emergency services, such as cell phones, heaters, clothes, special food, and transportation, to
2) provide basic care: help finding housing, getting furniture and home goods; moving; arranging for telephone service, Internet hookups: tending clients when they are sick, getting medicine , taking them to the hospital for appointments; finding clothes appropriate for Maine weather, and
3) provide acculturation training, skills building, coaching and mentoring to improve their prospects for future economic and social success in America.
LWP seeks to move beyond humanitarianism by empowering African immigrants to improve their own quality of life through dialog, instruction, and one-on-one coaching with the LWP partners.
Because LWP was founded by members of the immigrant community, we are intimately aware of the particular stresses they face and the need for targeted assistance. We will continue to offer our assistance until there is a critical mass of at least 100 trained and organized African immigrants who can mentor and train others. We are not caseworkers—we are partners.
The significance of this approach is two-fold: by coaching, mentoring, training and teaching small groups of immigrants and individuals, we build trust and mutual respect, which encourages others to approach us for help.
By offering instruction in a wide array of topics relating to life in America, we are able to lessen the feelings of being overwhelmed and bring a sense of accomplishment to them, however small. We are currently teaching English language, diction, and composition, helping prepare resumes and cover letters, and most importantly, we are offering useful techniques to acculturate to American ways and advance their plans for success. In 2007 and 2008, we worked with more than 150 African immigrants providing emergency assistance, basic care or advanced training. We intend to expand the topics of training to include developing peer-support networks, resolving conflicts, and tactics for engaging in local civic life. At the same time, we are publishing An Immigrant’s Guide to Portland, Maine which encapsulates the training and guidance into an easily-read and understandable manual for navigating life in Maine.
Members of LWP feel strongly that the most effective approach is to use local resources to bolster the newcomers’ ability to successfully meet their challenges.The purpose of the organization is to build capacity in specific immigrant communities to meet the challenges they face every day by learning coping skills and planning techniques.
Most immigrants prefer to wean off government handouts and stand on their own. Because LWP professionals and volunteers are locally based, they are focused on helping the immigrant community meet the unique challenges within the context of the Maine environment and the Maine economy.
One valuable source of local expertise and leadership is our neighborhood associations; another is our small business community, and yet another is our nonprofit community. Speakers and trainers come directly from these sources—we do not believe there is any need to seek expertise outside the state of Maine, when what we face are uniquely local challenges.
Living with Peace
Board Members
Christina Feller, founder and president, has three passions—entreprenuership, immigrants, and traveling so it is no wonder that as a nonprofit consultant, she helped establish dozens of women’s business associations in cities across Russia in the mid-nineties. As Board Chair of the International Network for Enterprise and Trade, she was instrumental in establishing more than two dozen English language business libraries across Poland, Germany and Russia in the early nineties. She graduated from Wells College, Harvard Business School, and George Mason University.
Roger Ruganzu, was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo. His family and his tribal community fled to Rwanda because of the civil war, where he went to high school and university. He graduated from law school at the University of Kilgali in Rwanda. He came to Maine in 2006. He was married on April 11, 2009 to Solange Musgeni who came from Rwanda just two months ago and they had not seen each other for some five years.
Sergine Gakwaya went to university with both Roger and Aimee at the University of Kilgali in Rwanda. Sergine is currently enrolled in the Conflict Resolution master’s program at Brandeis University. Her thesis has recently been accepted—immigrant acculturation in Maine! She will be spending the summer in Portland working on her project.
Adelaide Manirakiza is a widow and President of the Association of Widows and Orphans of Murdered Army Personnel. She came to Portland a little more than one year ago. Her application for asylum was approved and now she is waiting for the arrival of her four daughters from Bujumbura, Burundi, where they have been living by themselves in constant fear.
Aimee Umutoni is a mother of three small children, wife, minister, full time employee of a major local firm, full time graduate student and a leader of her community of people from DRCongo. Aimee’s mother-in-law lives with her as well as two cousins so that the children are always well card for by many hands as is the African tradition! Aimee fled from DR Congo with her family after the civil war. Her college studies in Kilgali were suspended when she fled the country for the United States.