Refugee Resettlement

The story of how Tenneh Johnson, a former refugee, and Micki Tripp, a retired Iowa teacher, became friends starts in Liberia.

The small country in West Africa is one with mangrove forests and rolling coastal plains. But it's also a country of great heartbreak, torn apart by two long-running civil wars that sent thousands of Liberians fleeing the region.

Tenneh and her family were among them. Today she is a gracious, independent young woman building a new life in Muscatine. By the time she arrived in the United States two years ago, she had spent more of her youth outside of Liberia than in it.

The journey that brought her to Muscatine and to Micki is a story that spans four countries and two continents.

When the war broke out in Liberia, Tenneh's family sought refuge to the east in Ivory Coast. They lived in the refugee camps, where Tenneh attended school, until the fighting erupted there also. As they fled again, this time to Guinea, Tenneh's mother got separated in the chaos. They would not see each other again for several years.

In Guinea, Tenneh and her siblings made it to an uncle. A grandmother in the United States sent money whenever she could afford it. With the funds, Tenneh opened a shop in a local market, selling cookies and soap to support her family.

Eventually, they went to Conakry, the capital city, to see if the U.N. agency could help them travel to the United States. They were denied, Tenneh said, because it is preferred that minors travel with their parents and her mother was still missing.

They waited anxiously, sending letters to Ivory Coast and calling radio stations there for help, hoping to find her. Two years later they did and Tenneh's mother made it to Guinea in time for more interviews with the U.N.

In May of 2007, Tenneh was resettled to Minnesota. Everything was new. She learned to use the bus schedule and had to constantly repeat her English to make someone understand. At the advice of her uncle, she earned her CNA degree and last August, she traveled to Muscatine with a friend to find a job. Within a month, she was hired by a Lutheran nursing home.

A friend told her about LSI's Muscatine community refugee services and encouraged her to go.

"She said 'We have a lady in this city who helps refugees and they call her Michelle'," Tenneh said.

That lady is Michelle Nagy, LSI's community resource supervisor, who welcomed Tenneh and talked to her about her needs.

"One of the things we talked about was having a mentor," Michelle said. "She was very excited about that."

The mentor matched with Tenneh was Micki, a retired teacher with her own links to Liberia. In the 1970s, Micki's husband Dennis lived there for a short time, helping his engineering firm develop a new port.

"Ten years ago when we heard about the war in Liberia we were so disappointed," said Micki.

At the time, a woman in the Liberian office of Dennis' firm relocated to Muscatine because of the violence. When the woman's family later arrived, Dennis met them at the airport in Chicago and drove them to Muscatine.

The Tripps became informal mentors and friends to those first Muscatine refugees, and today Micki is volunteering again through LSI's mentor program.

Micki helped Tenneh immediately with one of her biggest goals, finding her own apartment. Micki thought of her church, which owns and rents apartments in a building next door.

One of those apartments was empty and perfect for Tenneh.

"When Micki found a place for me, I was so excited," she said.

She moved in a week later, and since has been peacefully working and studying. She is resourceful, heading to the Muscatine Community College by herself to ask about GED classes and college courses.

Micki has helped her learn to use the bus system and meets with her every Thursday morning to practice English. They also go shopping and have done a community service project at a nearby mission.

"One of the things I love about America is they teach you what you don't know," Tenneh said.

In some ways, Tenneh achieved success the moment her plane landed in the U.S.

"If you can get from a war-torn country to a refugee camp to the U.S., you are already successful," said Michelle.

But what really sets Tenneh apart is the independence she has achieved, having grown up in a culture where many decisions are made by men.

"For Tenneh to be living on her own and have her own job makes her stand out even more," said Michelle. "She has crossed some of those cultural experiences to make healthy, good choices for herself."

How does she like her independence? The big smile on her face says it all.

"America can make you more independent," she said. "I enjoy working with Micki. Whenever I need something, she helps. She is always waiting to teach me what I don't know."

"Tenneh has very high goals," Micki said. "She's been very successful going to school and finding a job. I enjoy working with Tenneh very much."

For now, Tenneh is busy saving money for a car and helping support family still in West Africa. She said she would someday like to get a college degree and to be a flight attendant.

It's a fitting goal for a young woman already learning how to soar.