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Yunis Gabow, coaching and caring in Texas
Yunis Gabow
Photo: Aaron Tate, Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston
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Yunis Gabow, 19, grew up in refugee camps in Kenya and resettled in Houston, Texas, in April 2004. He is working full time and studying toward his Graduate Equivalency Degree (GED).
But while Gabow, a Somali Bantu, is taking care of himself, his first thoughts are for others: his 14-year-old brother, who lives with him; their father, brother, sister, and uncle still in refugee camps, and his clients at Interfaith Ministries of Greater Houston (IMGH).
Gabow worked in hotel housekeeping and as a supermarket stock clerk before becoming an employment specialist at IMGH six months ago. He said his first year in the United States was the hardest.
"I used to catch the bus to school in the morning, and then work from 3 to 11 p.m. But the bus stopped running at 9 p.m., so I would return home from work on foot," Gabow said. "That could take me two hours, running and walking."
Then he and his cousin, who worked days, got a small car. Gabow used the bus during the day, but then his cousin picked him up from work at night. "That made our life easier," he said. "This is how we overcame our problem."
Gabow's cousin later moved to Phoenix, Arizona, and Gabow got his own car. Now, he works days and goes to night school.
At IMGH, Gabow scouts out job openings for Somali Bantu clients. He has built relationships with many potential employers. He said, "I went to all the companies and talked to the managers. Now they phone me to say, 'Hey, Yunis, can you bring us one more person?'"
Coaching job seekers, workers
Gabow drills job seekers on likely interview questions and how to dress, takes them to interviews, and then continues to coach them on how to succeed in the U.S. workplace -- and get promoted.
"I come early in the morning to the office, and call everyone who's working," he said, running down his list of 27 clients. "I ask, 'How's the job? How’s the family?' I tell them, 'Be on time. Don't quit. Even keep a minimum wage job, because the more you stay, the more they give you a raise. When you want to change your job, call me first.'"
He gives extra encouragement to single mothers struggling to balance work and childcare, and, often, to send some of their wages back to their relatives in Africa.
Gabow, who "learned some English and some skills" in Kenya, urges everyone, "even if you are 80 years old," to take classes and learn English to advance in life.
Gabow worries a lot about family members still in Kenya, especially those in Kakuma camp. He knows how hard their lives are there, and sends them money for food, clothing, and other necessities.
Gabow said his father is coping in Dadaab, earning money by transporting people by bicycle, but others, "in Kakuma, especially, are living a hard life. Every time they call you, they say, 'We are hungry. We need some money.' I know the life in Kakuma. When I hear their voices, I cry myself."
Gabow said that once he gets his U.S. permanent residence, he'd like to take a video camera back to Kakuma camp and make a film in order to document the conditions there and encourage more third-country resettlement of Somali Bantu.
Only a question from this interviewer could bring Gabow back to his hopes for his own future: "Oh, my life!" Gabow laughed. "I have the spirit of working and learning something. As long as I make something like a high school diploma or GED, and get something like a good job, in my spirit I will be like someone who is rich."
Read more about Somali Bantu resettlement.
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