What does “The secret war crime,” a recent article in Time magazine, have anything to do with me and/or Maine? The article describes the horrors of war and rape in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo. We live thousands of miles away from the violence and massacres described in the article.

However, I have the opportunity and privilege of meeting refugees from these areas of Africa every week at the St. Vincent de Paul Soup Kitchen in Portland. They are attending classes at Portland Adult Education. I often sit down, introduce myself and get to know their first names and where they are from. They share the horrors they have lived through and the families they have left behind.

Many refugees are fluent in many languages and left professional jobs. One woman was an accountant and is taking classes to adapt her skills in America. Another refugee had just completed his studies at Southern Maine Community College and works as an interpreter.

Please don’t paint all of our refugees with one kind of brush. Read the article in Time with understanding and compassion. (Warning: It is graphic, violent and shocking.)

I ask myself, “Could I live through what the refugees have experienced? Would I have the courage and strength to come to America alone and to create a new life?”

I tell the refugees that I am a child of an immigrant mother, Santa Rizza, who arrived in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1909 from Siracusa, Sicily. She endured scorn and taunting from local Italian immigrants who thought that Sicilians were the scum of the Earth.

My mother taught me by her example to be strong, courageous and resilient. I see the same strength, courage and resilience in the refugees I meet each Monday at the soup kitchen

Mary Lou Smith

Scarborough

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