In Durham, Glik has another kind of family. Glik and his roommates, Dar Rahlan, Lap Nay, and Loa Rahlan settled into their lives in North Carolina with the help of roughly 20 American sponsors from five different churches in the area. Before their arrival in late June 2002, the sponsors had a list from Lutheran Family Services of what to do with each refugee's resettlement fund: rent an apartment, buy secondhand furniture and clothes, stock the kitchens with plates and rice cookers.
The sponsors’ zealous efforts have landed the roommates with an extra set of plates and two extra electric woks. They even had parkas for the big ice storm last winter, as evidenced by photos of them posing in front of their first frozen trees.
Aid from the community helps them stretch thin resources. All of the men were farmers in Vietnam. Now, Lap has permanent work doing landscape maintenance for the city. Glik and Dar have part-time employment with a temp agency in Durham working the night shift at a commercial printer.
One of their most active sponsors is Jim Fie, a big man--well over 6 feet--who sometimes looks like he could use a good, long sleep. He drives a truck decorated with American flags and a bumper sticker that says, "Visualize Using Your Turn Signals."
Jim is also a member of Pastor Laurie's Calvary United Methodist Church, and was out of work himself when the group first arrived. Jim explains that "the LFS requirement was for a six-month sponsorship. They should have had their jobs by then and their setup organized. Except that after that, you're not just going to evaporate into the mist. These people have come here. They're looking to start a new life. We're here to help them, and not just for six months and then, 'See you! Good luck!' Since I've gotten to know them, I do feel like they're my friends, not just the 'refugees'."
Within the year that Jim has known Glik, Dar, and Lap, his own job search has gradually taken up more of his time. Recently, he was hired as a part-time administrative assistant in Durham, and will be less available to the men. "I don't mind doing stuff for them," Jim says, "because a lot of it is stuff that they can't just go do themselves. What if they want to go see a doctor, especially now with the Medicaid gone? If they get sick, where do they go?"
Though the Medicaid allotted to men for the six months after their arrival has run out, the sponsors regularly come by the apartment to take them to doctors with lower fees, to go shopping together, to give them English lessons, and to take them to church on Sundays. They are also working to get Lap and Loa, who have been learning English at a faster pace than Glik and Dar, their drivers' licenses. Having at least one roommate in the apartment with a license will be a large step toward independence for all of them.
Settling in Durham