An Interview with Eric Nkusi from Rwanda, President of Intore Club, an Immigrant and Refugee Association
by Christina Feller
Eric Nkusi came to Portland ten years ago to seek out these things called “liberty,” “freedom,” and “opportunity.” He came as a professional, like so many of the people from the Central African countries of Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda, known collectively as the countries of the Great Lakes Region of Africa. Eric quickly recognized the array of services presented to arriving immigrants from Catholic Charities Maine, the City Office of Refugee and Immigrant Services, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Office of Equal Employment and Multicultural Affairs of the City of Portland and the Maine State Office of Multicultural Affairs. Many service providers were and are available to help smooth the way into American work life. “For this, everyone is very appreciative,” Eric praised.
As I have written before in these Observer pages over the past three years, while immigrants are offered these valuable services, these services come with a high price. All too often, the hard-won education and skills that individuals “from away” bring with them are simply ignored.
On the one hand, Americans have had a tradition of recognizing people for what they can do and have done in their professional fields; of believing that “actions speak louder than words.” However, Eric points out, there is little evidence of this tradition in the processes of the service provider’s systems designed to assist immigrants.
“For example,” said Erik, “the state, the city, the fire department and even the police department have all applied for stimulus money and all that money is to be used up by these departments to offer us what they think we need, instead of giving us the opportunity to be in on the grant writing itself so that we are the recipients of not just the money, but we are given the opportunity to be in more control of the real execution of the projects that are aimed at assimilating immigrants into the systems surrounding us.” Eric continued, “This is what is missing, and this is the big issue right now in the immigrant community. It is about the quality of the programming.”
The “New Mainers” as they are called, immigrants coming from countries historically different from those who came to Maine earlier in our history, arrive like immigrants always have—without a good understanding of what to expect, how to behave, how to integrate but most of all—how to get a job that fits their education and professional experience.
“Many of these people have come from high level professional positions.” Eric said. “I, myself, was an international banker for seven years. This experience trained me for working in a bank anywhere in the world. That is what I knew. But it is only because of Jody Austin at Peoples Bank (now TDBank) who took a chance with me, and became my American friend that I was able to get a job that fit my experience. If not for her, I would not have achieved so much at such a quick pace. I will tell you the truth and give you advice—find an American friend who you can learn from and even lean on a one-on-one basis. This is how you will come to understand American ways more quickly. It really has to happen on an individual basis—you cannot learn this in a classroom.”
CF: Why did you start Intore Club?
EN: There was a barrier between the service providers and those receiving the services. There was a lack of feedback and input from the immigrants and people being served. We started to talk with the service providers to tell them how they can improve. People did not feel that they are listened to—their input was not taken into consideration. They wanted one-on-one help. We took eight months to work with the providers without success. So we began as a creative and social network with a need for better services to allow them to come and think and strategize on how they are going to make it here. That’s why we started the club—to be a creative and a social club to address the issues. We thought it would be temporary. The number of immigrants grew. The problem got more complicated and we lost track of these issues. Then we had to formalize ourselves as an organization in order to bring attention to the matter. We had thought that one day they will do what they should and we could disband but that did not happen.
CF: How did you start your group?
EN: I started it with two other fellows, one from Ethiopia and one from Somalia back in 2000. We spent our whole lives driving people around the city—to church or mosque, to the grocery store, to work, to their doctor appointments, to the school to pick up the children, on and on and on 24 hours a day. Then the organization grew to ten people then twenty people. We became a formal nonprofit in 2005.”
CF: Tell me what “Intore” means in your language of Kinyarwandan?
EN: The Intore Club is named after a tradition from the time of our great kings that ended with colonial rule when we had special warriors who served the human dignity of the people through their behavior and their beliefs and their deeds. They gave us strength. They helped form and sustain the strength of our cultural identity. So, I have named our community association Intore Club.
CF: What activities do you undertake now?
EN: The three issues I spoke of before are the same ones now. The EMT, Police and Fire Department are not diverse so that a simple problem often becomes a major catastrophe. They do not reflect the population. This is critical in emergency situations. They need to make people aware of the laws. We were being represented as people without skills, but we have doctors, lawyers, teachers, etc. They can help shape the life of the children. Last, we need to work on cultivating cultural leaders—reducing the cultural divide. We need to help our youth to transition to American life.
Now, many people have their driving licenses so the need for the cars is almost non-existent. Today, we try to improve the level of the programs available to immigrants and we work together with other immigrant organizations and governmental units to improve communication and understanding. For instance, we were a part of the creation of the Westbrook Human Relations committee—an effort to reduce the cultural divide and make sure that police, fire, and EMT are aware of the cultural barrier. This is successful. Also, we were part of organizing a national children’s study to watch the healthcare of 1,000 newborns in Cumberland County over a 21-year timeframe. We played a consulting role to be sure that immigrants and refugees were a part of the study. We are working with Cumberland County emergency shelters to be aware of immigrants in emergency preparedness.
CF: What is the biggest stumbling block to acculturation?
EN: The mental health of the immigrant community is very low. We need a full health screening for all immigrants. I estimate that 70% of the immigrants in Portland who come from Africa have some sort of direct or indirect trauma in their lives. They come here for their safety and to try to live again. The integration process does not treat torture survivors well because it is a bureaucracy. We need more than empowering messages—we need prescriptions for health.
CF: Are there many immigrant associations forming in the area and how do you communicate among yourselves?
EN: We have meetings every month with all the different associations. We have nine associations that have passed through special nonprofit training. So, the job now is to meet among ourselves in a council-type way to determine how we can direct our own projects and programs and we can decide which groups to work with and structure the relationship in a way that is mutually beneficial.
The issue is not what is available. The issue is the quality of the outcomes from the service brokers who are working on our behalf. Classrooms are crowded. We need more one-on-one friendships forming between people who live in Portland and immigrants. In the end, we believe we can be our own best service brokers.
CF: Thank you, Eric, for speaking with us.
For more information, please call Eric at 207-699-6217 or e-mail him at intoreclub@yahoo.com.
Next month, we will examine the work of the Sudanese Community Association and Fur Cultural Revival.
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