Congolese In Austin

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After living in a Ugandan refugee camp for seven years, the UNHCR resettled the Musongera family in Austin, Texas in 2013. Palaku, 59, and his wife Doli, 44, along with their two sons, two daughters and two nephews arrived in July. The family, originally from the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, fled their home in 2007 because of a long-standing war that has lasted decades. Aided by the Catholic charity Caritas, the family moved into two apartments in central Austin. The charity provided support to the family for their first six months in the United States. After that, the U.S. government expected the family to be self-sufficient. Palaku said he applied for permanent resettlement in a third country because he wanted to make sure that his kids got a good education. He said in the DRC, he was a school teacher. When the family moved to Uganda, he and his wife collected water bottles for money. In Austin, they clean hotel rooms.