Seven Congolese children are scheduled to reunite with their family in New Hampshire after a two year wait. The parents fled a brutal civil war and immigrated to Manchester -- but they were unable to bring their children at the time. Thanks to a year long effort by a professor and students at the University of New Hampshire. The family will finally see each other Friday evening. New Hampshire public radio's Amy Quinton reports.
Hubert and Helen Simwerayi sit in their Manchester apartment, holding a picture of their seven children. The Simweray's immigrated to the United States from the Democratic Republic of Congo - a country plagued by six years of civil war. Hubert, an outspoken human rights worker in the Congo, remembers the night he almost lost his life.
"That night the soldier came into (the) house and took me, took all my family, took my wife, put her under the bed, put my children under the bed and then they put me in the living room and begin (sic) to hit me."
For 20 minutes, Hubert says soldiers beat him - first using their fists, then a machete. Helene hid with the children in the next room.
"I was thinking he died, I cried there, my children were under the bed, they cried too."
Hubert managed to survive, but for years he and his family feared the soldiers would return. Then in 2002, Hubert won a visa lottery to immigrate to the U.S. Unable to afford to fly the entire family, Hubert and Helene decided to leave their seven children in the care of a relative - fully expecting to send for them later.
"We flew, we left the children, it was not easy for us to leave the children, you know it's not easy when you have a big family and living away in another place and thinking about them, and all the bad situation in the country, its not easy."
But once in Manchester, the Simweray's learned the children's visas had expired. Immigration officials told them they would have to wait several years before they could reapply. Devastated, the Simweray's went to a church to pray. That's where they met UNH anthropology professor Nina Glick-Shiller. Shiller says she felt compelled to help.
"When I do research I try to learn but I also try to learn by doing and help and they asked me to help and I said, I'll do the best I can."
Glick-Shiller told her students about the Simweray's. UNH senior Kelli Swazey was one of them.
"Even after all these terrible things had happened to them, they were still more concerned about everybody else in the Congo than they were about themselves, I felt it would have been just a terrible thing to refuse to help these people, they've done so much for others, that it's time others stepped up and did things for them."
So Swazey and six other students formed the UNH Committee for Rights and Justice, found a lawyer to work pro-bono and petitioned immigration officials to expedite the visa process. Immigration attorney Tom Hildreth agreed to help.
"There's a two and a half to three year lag time to between the approval of the petition and the time the children would actually be permitted to the US. We knew given the circumstances in their home area of Goma in the Congo, we couldn't afford to have them wait there all that time, they many not be alive if they had to wait."
Hildreth says the Simweray's were desperate. Their cousin, who was taking care of the children in the Congo, was murdered. The children were then sent to live with their grandmother. Shortly after, Hubert says armed men surrounded the house threatening the children.
"When we found out about that we cried, we cried all morning, thinking about how the soldier came, how they came to visit the children, we called Nina, Nina cried on the phone, she said, no it's not possible."
Nina Glick-Shiller and the students began working with a local charity, Danny's team, to raise enough money to send the children to Uganda, to stay with a family friend. Here in New Hampshire, the student group contacted Congressman Jeb Bradley. He was able to help the children obtain humanitarian parole - something granted only in emergency situations. Bradley staffer Marti Jones.
"There's a lot of people who want to be reunited, I hear it everyday from people who have separated from their family in other countries, but you have to have a reason, just the fact that you're separated isn't a strong enough reason."
Student Kelli Swazey says the process was a huge undertaking, and an expensive one. Fees to apply for humanitarian parole were over one thousand dollars, getting seven children on a plane cost almost 12-thousand. Swazey says the community pulled together to raise enough money.
"The community outpouring has been fantastic and we have been overwhelmed and overawed by everything that's happened and the people who have stepped up to help this family that part of it has been really wonderful."
On Friday evening, the Simweray's will finally reunite with their seven children. The plane is expected at Logan airport at 9:40 pm. Hubert says he's forever grateful.
"Eevery time we thank god, sometimes we can't believe, we say oh god, you are so great because you send us Nina, and through Nina, we get Kelli, and through Kelli we get the lawyer, and now we have big staff, it's something extraordinary. It's the hand of the lord."
For NHPR news, I'm Amy Quinton.
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