League of Women Voters
The Grinnell Rotary Club held its regular weekly meeting on Tuesday, December 7, 2021. Present at this meeting was Therese Grant, the state president of the League of Women Voters. Ms. Grant brought a couple who recently immigrated to the United States from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Her guests were Florence Nshimba and Faustin Kiphanzu. Ms. Grant assisted Ms. Nshimba and Mr. Kiphanzu in telling their story through an interview-style presentation.
Ms. Nshimba and Mr. Kiphanzu immigrated to the United States five years ago, first living in Missouri for a more than two years where their sponsor family reside, then living briefly in Ottumwa, until finally arriving in Grinnell two years ago. They were given the opportunity to immigrate because they won the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ lottery program which provides immigration visas to individuals drawn from a random selection among all entries from countries with low rates of immigration to the United States. More than 50,000 visas are granted in this manner each year. After they were notified of their status, they were given two years to prepare to leave their home country and immigrate to the United States.
They lived in Brazzaville, the capital of the Congo. Ms. Nshimba was a 6th grade teacher for ten years. She taught all subjects to a class of 70 to 75 students. Mr. Kiphunzu painted homes and was also a singer and studio engineer. They still have many family members in their home country. Now that they have been in the U.S. for five years they are eligible for citizenship, but hesitate to take that step because the Republic of Congo does not permit dual citizenship.
They came to Grinnell because they both were hired at Jeld-Wen. They have five children, three in middle school and two in high school, who are involved in several school activities. In addition to English, their family speaks Lingala and French. Ms. Nshimba is in her second year of taking English classes at Iowa Valley. They enjoy living in the United States, even though there are distinct differences in the types of weather (no cold winters or tornadoes in the Congo) and food (ate fewer processed foods in the Congo).
The Rotary Club thanks Ms. Nshimba and Mr. Kiphanzu for sharing their story with the club members and, also, thanks Ms. Grant for introducing the couple to the club.
Other club business addressed at the meeting was the announcement that nearly $2,000 was raised from ringing the bells for the Salvation Army during the previous weekend. Thank you to all the Rotary Club members who participated in this activity, and thank you to the members of the community who donated.
Donna Fischer (she, her, hers)
