Our First U.S. Citizen
We are so incredibly proud of Jeane and Djuma as they reach the milestone of U.S. citizenship after their long, harrowing journey from refugee status. They are the first of our families to achieve this goal – we currently have several other families on the same trajectory during the required five-year waiting period.
Jeane when Djuma moved to Maine to seek better employment, which he obtained using RAP as a personal reference.
Jeane joined him in Maine, at 37-weeks pregnant with two young children in tow. In Maine, they had a healthy baby, and spent the pandemic saving money, and were able to buy their own home. Jeane has a sister she supports, who fled Burundi with her husband and 9 children. They now live in a refugee camp in Rwanda and hope to join Jeane and Djuma in the United States.
Jeane fled to South Africa after facing extreme persecution in her native Burundi. But she and her husband Djuma continued to face severe ethnic persecution, this time because of their Burundian heritage.
Djuma and Jeane owned a shop together which, after many threats, was firebombed, along with their home--both burned to the ground. Her family barely escaped with their lives, as they began their long journey, once again as refugees.
After being selected to resettle in the United States, Jeane and Djuma established their new home in central New Jersey where they had to contend with underemployment, pest infestation, flooding, and a high-risk pregnancy. RAP carried them through all these hardships and cared for
Proud big brother Gershome with baby Jacob
Their home in Maine!