Congolese refugee family struggles to make ends meet in Colorado
After years of living as refugees in Uganda, nine out of 11 members of one Congolese family made it to the U.S. But their journey towards stability continues.
"We lived the life of running, because of wars," said son Malik Abdule.
Hassan Zakaria, one of the oldest of the Busimba children, was only 5 when the family fled their home country in 2008.
"We had to run going, like, in the bushes hiding ourselves," said Hassan, "walking night and day, night and day and we crossed the border (from) Congo to Uganda."
After years of trying, they finally made it to Colorado a year ago, only to struggle with new obstacles.
They continue to support their siblings back in Africa and hope they too will one day make it to the U.S.
"This apartment is not good for us. Homeless people be sleeping in here and breaking down the door. They be fighting in here so much," said Malik Abdule.
Their home is too small and unsafe, they don't have a car, and their father is blind.
While his sons translated, Zakaria Busimba told CBS News Colorado he lost an eye to illness, and his other eye became infected years later.
The family came to America believing an operation could restore his sight but received bad news.
"Doctors told my dad he can't get treatment because they did a lot of operations on his eye back in Uganda," said Hassan Zakaria.
His blindness means Zakaria Busimba cannot work. And his wife is a full-time caretaker of him and the younger children.
"He was hoping that if the treatment succeeded, right now I could be at school and he could be working right now," said Malik Abdule.
Instead, supporting the family has fallen on the two oldest boys, who work at Wendy's and Walmart while finishing high school.
"I think it is difficult for us, working, schooling, pay rent, pay bills," said Hassan Zakaria.
Their hopes of going to college are on hold, while they focus on their family's survival.
"I was going to start full-time in college. But I couldn't because of paying rent. Since then, I haven't gone to school," said Malik Abdule.
Volunteers from the African Community Center are working to get Zakaria on disability and get the family a car. The good news is, they've found a safer home the family can rent. The volunteers are organizing an online fundraiser for the Busimba family, and they're hoping to get enough funds together to move them in next month.
