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Eating out? Think of refugees as you butter your bread
Belinda Lazo
Photo: Carol Fouke-Mpoyo
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Grand Rapids, Michigan - Butterball® Farms, Inc., a leading supplier of specialty butter products for the food service industry, has long been proud of its diverse workforce. So Human Resources Manager Belinda Lazo said she "didn't need convincing" when PARA Refugee Services approached her about hiring some of its clients.
"I just honestly didn't know what a refugee was," Lazo admitted. "So PARA educated me. I learned that some of them have lived under extreme conditions, and sometimes have had to worry about whether they were going to live or die. And it made me even more excited to have some kind of impact in their lives coming to the United States."
Butterball Farms' butter portions – in the form of roses, rosettes, balls, seashells, geometric compositions, and more – grace tables at hotels, restaurants, country clubs, and resorts across the country.
McDonald's is among clients of Butterball's custom logo products, its golden arches stamped onto its butter portions. The Web site of this Grand Rapids, Michigan-based company notes that it is "the largest national dairy supplier of specialty butter in the U.S."
Butterball's first refugee "hire" is Capitoline Nduwimana, a 21-year-old single mother of two from Burundi. Civil war forced her parents to Rwanda, where she was born. Then the Rwandan genocide scattered her family.
"I got separated from my parents. I was 10 years old," she said. "I was living in refugee camps from that time. I left from Rwanda, went to Congo for two years, then back to Rwanda and finally to Uganda." Nduwimana was accepted into the U.S. Refugee Program and resettled to Grand Rapids in January 2005 under the auspices of Church World Service and PARA Refugee Services.
 Capitoline Nduwimana, in uniform at Butterball Farms. Several of Butterball's specialty butter portions are pictured behind her. Photo: Carol Fouke-Mpoyo
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When Nduwimana started work in June 2005, "she was really hesitant," said her supervisor, Lela Honicutt. "It was really hard to talk to her because she knew little English. But she wanted to try. And because of the energy and the motivation she had, she wanted to keep learning. And even though we had little 'talking communication,' she could still understand what I was doing. I just showed her."
Nduwimana shared her own vivid recollections of her first days on the job at Butterball. "I was scared because I didn't speak English," she said. "I was pretty sure I could do the work. But I was thinking, 'How will I know what to do? How will I learn it?'
"But when I got here, they tried to make it easier for me. Lela would tell me something, and then she would do it, and then I would do what she did. And then I felt comfortable when I started to know what to do."
Lazo recalled that when Capitoline "first started, during the interview process, I needed the assistance of an interpreter. And wow, maybe a month or so later, I was able to carry on a conversation with her. She caught on to the English language really well."
Honicutt affirmed that Capitoline is now "doing beautifully. She volunteers for a lot. She helps out a lot, even training. If she sees someone having trouble, she'll help. She is the kind of person who likes to work really hard."
Nduwimana, responsible for products' final inspection before they are packed, said the job has changed her life. "I was sitting at home," she said. "I say, 'My gosh, I wish I could find a place to work.' In my life, I never had a place to work. When I started working, I felt like I arrived. Because when I work full time, five days a week, sometimes overtime, six days a week, that's good, because I can pay my bills, my food, my clothing. I feel very good to have this job!"
As Nduwimana was getting to work, her cosponsors at the River Valley Church, a Vineyard church, were coaching her on how things work in the United States. At first, it was "what do you need to buy, what don't you need to buy in order to save a little money," she said. They advised her to notify her supervisor when she needed time off to go to the doctor, and helped her find babysitters.
Through her steady employment and prompt payment of bills, she built up her credit score. This past summer, with her cosponsors' encouragement, she bought a house. Nduwimana expects to complete her part-time high school studies soon and go on to college.
She has located her parents in Tanzania and hopes they can join her soon. Meanwhile, other members of her extended family have resettled in Grand Rapids, and five are now working at Butterball, where they are doing well. "Since Capitoline knows them personally, she gave recommendations of who she thought would be the most successful in our environment," Lazo said. "At orientation, it was just nice to see the excitement in their eyes. They are very grateful to have the opportunity."
Nduwimana advises newly resettled refugees just entering the U.S. workforce, "Don't be nervous. You can't think that because you don't speak English you’re not going to do it. I know it's scary. You say, 'Wow, what am I going to say? What am I going to do?' Try hard. You can do it. In a couple of weeks or months, you’ll be OK."
Her counsel to employers? "I think any job, a refugee could do it. Just make sure they get a good trainer and they understand." Honicutt echoed Nduwimana's words, saying, "As long as they want to learn, you can work with them. I would recommend any company to hire refugees. Give them that opportunity and they will work for you."
Agreed Lazo, "The investment is well worth it. The resettlement agency provides an interpreter for the interview and orientation, and helps when there are issues with transportation or anything else. It's been an extremely positive experience for us. We’ve received much more – we have awesome employees out of this!"
Nduwimana is among refugees and cosponsors featured in a new CWS DVD, A Future with Hope: Welcoming Refugees. You can order the DVD online or by calling 1-800-297-1516.
Fifth in a series of articles featuring enterprises identified by CWS affiliates as exemplary employers of refugees.
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