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IMMIGRATION Ashland woman trying to save family in Kenya Volunteer immigration attorneys team up to help survivor of terrorism Comment By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Apr. 22, 2016 at 3:42 PM Updated Apr 22, 2016 at 4:06 PM By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Apr. 22, 2016 at 3:42 PM Updated Apr 22, 2016 at 4:06 PM » Social News A group of pro-bono lawyers here is working to gain refugee status for the family of Ashlander Naomi Kerongo, so family members can come to the U.S. before they are killed for speaking out against the government of Kenya. Two of her four grown sons have already been killed in the past five years. Another son, niece and granddaughter remain there waiting, she says, for the State Department to OK their immigration, something they only do for about 1 percent of such applicants, says Talent resident Laura Lindley-Gutierrez of the Center for Non-Profit Legal Services in Medford, which is organizing the effort. Kerongo’s troubles erupted on Aug. 7, 1998, when Osama bin Laden and his Islamic Egyptian Jihad blew up the U.S. embassy in Nairobi, killing 213. Kerongo was working next door as a trade bureaucrat for the Kenyan government — and emerged with severe physical and emotional trauma, becoming jobless and homeless overnight. She was denied any help, she says, from the local or American governments and was soon in a shantytown where, instead of rolling over and dying, she got to work organizing sex workers in a beauty college she started. She dug latrines and launched the slum’s sanitary system, then learned fundraising from American executives, who soon were paying for beans, rice and maize for the slum. Kerongo became a target when she started doing hunger strikes in the city park in 2008 and speaking out against the corrupt government, which wouldn’t help survivors of terrorism. Her comments went on international media and soon she got an invitation to speak on the issue at the United Nations and was flown here. Her quotes antagonized the Kenyan government, she says, and that’s when her children became endangered. Her eldest son was killed in 2011 and another in November 2015. Her brother, then working in Minnesota, went home for the holidays and was killed. “Life has been very poor to me. My dreams have been shattered. I had a dream to live life with my family. The poverty we have walked through. My table is empty. There is no one sitting there,” says Kerongo, who lives in a trailer gifted to her by an Ashland benefactor. “This is my sanctuary (the trailer). My lessons are so painful. It’s very heartbreaking. No one wants to take responsibility for the victims of terrorism. Where do we belong? When people run from terrorism, it’s not a joke. We’re running from real danger and standing up for truth.” Her lawyer, Lindley-Gutierrez, says, “The first time I met her, I had chills … She’s magnetic and drew us all in. This is a person who organized a school for sex workers and a sanitation system. The coming together of all these lawyers, working on this for free, that has never happened before.” Kerongo says her sons frequently have traveled around with her and been on TV, speaking out with her against terrorism and corruption — and the remaining son is in great danger. To secure refugee status, the lawyers must establish the case that there’s a “nexus” (connection) between her political acts and the danger to her kin, says Lindley-Gutierrez. It also must be established that they have a place to land and a community that will support them financially. Ashland has already done well on this, she adds. If they can’t establish a case for refugee status, she adds, they can try another avenue called “humanitarian parole,” an emergency step that gets refugees here for a year. Other Rogue Valley lawyers working on the project include Kevin Stout, Richard Thierolf, Dan Larsson and John Almaguer. Also helping are two others, Katrina Kilgren and Yaschar Sarparast, from out of the area. The lawyers are working for free, but Kerongo, who is not working, can accept donations in care of the Center for Nonprofit Legal Services, 225 W. Main St., Medford OR 97501. Kerongo notes, “I want terrorism to come to an end. I want to stand with others to push it out of our world. I need to bring my family together. I’m never at peace knowing my family is there (Kenya). My sons are gone with all their dreams. Terrorism has to come to an end … We can’t live in this pain endlessly.” John Darling is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected]. By John Darling For the Tidings DailyTidings.com By John Darling For the Tidings Posted Apr. 22, 2016 at 3:42 PM Updated Apr 22, 2016 at 4:06 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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