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Casualties in the fight against terror Local lawyers work for free to help Kenyan family gain refugee status Comment By John Darling for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 25, 2016 at 4:45 PM By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 25, 2016 at 4:45 PM » RELATED CONTENT • Terror survivor has a message » Social News Local lawyers are working pro bono to gain refugee status for Kenyan family members of Ashlander Naomi Kerongo, who says two of her grown sons and a brother have been killed in the last five years after she spoke out against the government of Kenya. Another son, niece and granddaughter remain in Kenya, waiting for the U.S. Department of State to approve their immigration. Only about 1 percent of such applicants are given refugee status, says Laura Lindley-Gutierrez of the Center for Nonprofit Legal Services in Medford, which is organizing the effort. Kerongo’s troubles erupted Aug. 7, 1998, when twin bombs destroyed U.S. embassies in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killing more than 200 people. More than 5,000 were wounded, among them Kerongo, who was working next door to the embassy in Nairobi as a trade development officer for the Kenyan government. She lost her job and her home. When she was denied help from both the Kenyan and American governments, she ended up in a Nairobi slum, where she helped sex workers find new lives 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 what she said was a corrupt government that wouldn’t help survivors of terrorism. Her comments went on international media, and soon she was flown to the U.S. to speak about the issue at the United Nations. Her quotes antagonized the Kenyan government, she says. Her eldest son was killed in 2011 and another died 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 given to her by an Ashland benefactor. Kerongo came to Ashland in 2011 through a family friend. She's now a permanent resident with a green card working on her U.S. citizenship. “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.” 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 traveled with her and have been on TV, speaking out with her against terrorism and corruption — and the remaining one is in great danger. To secure refugee status for Kerongo's family members, the lawyers must show there’s a “nexus” between Kerongo's 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 already has done well on this, Lindley-Gutierrez says. If the attorneys can’t establish a case for refugee status, they can try another avenue called “humanitarian parole,” an emergency step that gets refugees here for a year, Lindley-Gutierrez says. Other Rogue Valley lawyers working on the project include John Almaguer, Kevin Stout, Richard Thierolf, Katrina Kilgren, Dan Larsson and Yaschar Sarparast. 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. “I want terrorism to come to an end," Kerongo says. "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.” Reach Ashland freelance writer John Darling at [email protected]. By John Darling for the Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By John Darling for the Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 25, 2016 at 4:45 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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