Meet Goitom and Shewit

Goitom shared his story with Sheryl Rajbhandari, of travel from Eritrea to the USA after the two of them participated in an interview with a Newsweek reporter about the President’s announcement to ban refugees from Eritrea.  

Sheryl met Goitom in the spring of 2018.  He had reached out to her after learning about Heartfelt Tidbits from a member of his Eritrean Orthodox Church.  He and his wife had arrived as refugees and were so confused about what to do.  He wanted to work but didn’t have a social security card or driver’s license and felt overwhelmed in his new home.  Sheryl and Goitom met and began the process of getting him and his wife settled into their new home.

During the interview, Sheryl was fascinated to hear of Goitom's journey to the USA and asked him to share more with her.  He explained that seven years prior to being resettled in the USA, his home was a large hole dug in the floor of the forest.

In Eritrea, when the political unrest started to become too much for him to bear he knew the army/militia would enlist him.  He was educated and didn’t agree with their single-party presidential republican totalitarian dictatorship.  Young men and women who said “no” or stood up to the government were seen as the enemy.  He knew if he didn’t flee he would go to jail and die there, so he took a chance and ran to the foothills of the Horn of Plenty.

Goitom learned that fellow refugees were digging holes and living in them for safety.  While he wasn’t comfortable being in the presence of women, he had no choice.  The holes were crowded with both men and women.  People huddled together and secretly went out to search for food and hid quietly so they wouldn’t be caught.  As the militia would draw near, they would be forced to move to another hole.  This went on for two years and he traveled further north towards the border of Sudan.

During that period he witnessed women brutally raped and beaten, then killed at the end.  Many gave in to the militia to avoid being killed and then were shot anyway.  Masked men would come in the night and wreak terror amongst them.  Smugglers would take thousands of dollars and then sell the location of those they were moving to the army for more.  

After making it to Sudan, he knew the next part of his journey would be equally as hard because it involved crossing the Sahara Desert.  He heard stories of how difficult the journey was, and how many didn’t survive.  He thought to himself, what choice did he have?  If he were going to live, he had to take a chance.  

He said it took him about 2 weeks to cross the Sahara Desert.  When I asked how he knew which way to go, he said he just followed the others.  Once he arrived in Libya he made his way to the sea where he boarded a rickety boat and used the little bit of money he carried to pay for his ride into Malta. Again, putting his trust in God to protect him in the journey across the sea.  He said some people were so ill they died along the way or fell out.  Again it was part of the journey and the risk he had to take.

Once in Malta, he walked again until reaching a refugee camp and was given a work visa.  It was there that he learned how to weld and began welding military equipment.  He explained that he worked on rockets, tanks, and whatever else they needed to be done.  While life there wasn’t perfect, he was happy to be able to focus on his future.  He met with camp officials and applied for resettlement.  During that two-year period, he managed to meet and marry his wife, Shewit. She was in another camp but someone introduced the two.  Shewit had made the same journey from Eritrea separate from his.  The two were able to bond over the feelings of loneliness and guilt they felt in fleeing from their family members but knowing that they didn’t have a choice.  They both shared their fears that they might not ever see the relatives they left behind. However, both shared the hope that in time, they would be able to communicate and perhaps send money to their families to help their situation, and eventually reunite in whatever country Goitom and Shewit ended up in.

After waiting, they received notice that they were coming to the USA.  After a bit of a rough start in the US, they have managed to settle in nicely.  While waiting on work visas, Goitom learned how to drive an 18 wheeler and Shewit received her GED.  Their first child, Mecsup, was born in January 2019 and was welcomed by their new friends.  Shewit is part of Heartfelt Tidbits sewing group and sells her wares on Etsy.com, is a student of the ESL most advanced group, and is part of a neighborhood young mom’s group.  When her neighbors found out she was pregnant, she found herself surrounded by love from many who wanted to be the American grandmother. 

Goitom is very successful in his career of working in a manufacturing plant and dreams of someday driving an 18-wheeler on an open road.  He is a leader in his church and mentors others who are arriving or moving from other cities.  He’s always happy to assist with our cultural questions and has a smile that doesn’t stop. 

Both hope that they can continue to support their family in Eritrea and the travel ban is lifted so they can be reunited with their parents and other relatives.  Here is a family photo that was taken during Mecsup’s first birthday party.