Somali farmers start business in Roanoke Valley

 

They fled starvation and violence from the war torn and drought-ridden country of Somalia.

They have planted their roots here in the Roanoke Valley, literally and figuratively.

Six days they walked from Somalia to Kenya, escaping the violence and hunger.

“We have kids on back of our back. We just walking. Kids suffering. Some kids die on the street,” said Hagiro Wehel, a farmer at Juba Farms.

After waiting 12 years in Kenya, this group is now calling America and the Roanoke Valley home.

They started a business called Juba Farms.

“We didn't come here just to sleep in the mud. We came here to work hard and prove ourselves,” said Mahamudi Mganga of Juba Farms.

They grow all of their own crops on two plots of earth provided by Virginia Tech.

The farming is much easier.

“They know how to work the ground. Especially people who work the ground for so long without water,” said Juba Farms coordinator Roberta Boundurant.

They sell their crops online through a local website.

And every Thursday down the road at the Catawba Farmers Market.

In just a few months of existence, Juba Farms is already a success.

Already, there's talk of sprouting new business.

“One of the next steps is taking it to local restaurants. Making a plan for the second year,” said Sheri Dorn of Virginia Cooperative Extension.

Back home in Somalia, hundreds of thousands have died from the famine.

They see the images.

And pray their fellow Somalis will have the same fortune as them.

“We pray for them for God to bless them to come over like the same way we came over here. And we thank America who brought us into this country. We really appreciate that,” said translator Yusef Musa.

They are learning to grow.

And teaching by example.

“I thought I knew before what it meant to carry on. But they give new meaning to that,” Boundurant said.

Source: WDBJ7-TV