About Dunwoody reporter. (Sandy Springs, GA) 20??-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 4, 2013)
COMMUNITY Stars in their eyes for these new U.S. citizens The night before, Muna Omar had been too excited to sleep. “I was up al most all night,” she said. Saturday morning arrived as a bright, sunny fall day. Omar gathered her chil dren from their Doraville home and took them to a small field on the banks of the Chattahoochee River in Sandy Springs. There, she joined 69 others who had come from communities scattered across Georgia and Alabama to take part in a ceremony that lasted only about an hour, but would change their lives and the lives of their families. As sunlight glinted on the river, geese honked downstream, and dozens of smil ing family members stood and watched, these 70 people renounced their alle giances to their former home countries and became American citizens. “I’m so happy,” said Omar, who was born in Somalia and had lived a dozen years in the U.S. “I’m new. It’s a very, very big thing for me.” On Sept. 28, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services celebrated National Public Lands Day by holding its first naturalization ceremony at the Chattahoochee River National Recre ation Area. People from 35 countries, from Bangladesh to Vietnam and Laos to Liberia, became American cit izens that morning. Naturalization ceremonies usually are held in government office build ings, but immigration officials said they hope the riverside gathering would offer something different. “We thought this was a change of atmo sphere,” said Cheryl Johnson, section manager for the Atlanta Field Office of the citizenship and immigration services. The park, she said, provid ed “the view of the historic land [and] that scenery here.” Several of the soon-to-be new citi zens, who sat on folding or stackable chairs set up in a newly mowed field, endorsed the park setting as they await ed the start of the ceremony. “I like it,” said Balvantkumar Prajapati, who was born in India and now runs a store in Rome, Ga. Segun Oshadige, born in Ni ger, found the surroundings “calming.” Occasionally, other park-goers jogged by or walked dogs in the vicinity. A small group launched a big rubber raft from the boat ramp where the field touched river. Deer wandered nearby in the for est. “It’s not what I expected, but it’s OK,” said Margaret Mungei, who was born in Kenya and lives in Hoover, Ala. Dora Blanco also was pleased. “It’s nice, instead of the four walls of the building,” she said. “We’re actually going to stay and walk around the park afterwards.” Blanco came to the U.S. from Mex ico in 1994, when she was 9 years old. She lived much of her life in the U.S. in Whitfield County, and now lives in Marietta with two young children of her own. “It’s exciting,” she said of becom ing a citizen. “It’s something I wasn’t go ing to do, and then came my children. ... You almost can’t believe it’s real.” Oshad ige said he’s lived in met ro Atlanta for 30 years. He makes his liv ing driving a cab. Becom ing an Amer ican citizen, he said, “is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me.” He wanted to share in freedom and to have “a say in the gov ernment,” he said, “a voice.” Omar said she wanted to be part of the nation where her children were born. They’re all citizens of the U.S. and she wanted to be, too. “It’s my country,” she said. “All my kids were born here. I’m so happy. I’m one of them now.” Asked why she left the country of her birth behind, she waved off the ques- JOE EARLE others Muna Omar. in becoming a U.S. citizen at a Chattahoochee River ceremony. tion. “It was a war,” she said. “Killing and doing bad stuff.” She made it clear she’d rather talk about new beginnings than the past. During the ceremony, she was over whelmed with emotion. At one point, a recording of Lee Greenwood’s song, “God Bless The U.S.A.,” played over the loudspeakers. She sang along, then had to stop to wipe away tears. Lensa, her oldest daughter, quietly massaged her mother’s shoulders. After the ceremony, her children crowded around her, laughing with her and snapping photos with their smart phones. All around them, families re corded the moment with photographs of smiling new citizens posing with their new citizenship papers. “It’s so great,” Omar said. “It’s unbe lievable. It’s priceless. “I feel like I have a place, like I have a country. I feel like somebody now. It’s a big day for me and my kids.” She can sleep easier now. AROUND TOWN JOE EARLE SAVE -THE ~ x ^SUNDAY, JUNE 15 THROUGH MONDAY, JUNE 23, 2014 DON’T MISS OUT ON OUR “EARLY BIRD” DISCOUNTS THROUGH OCTOBER 1! CHOOSE AN ISRAEL EXPERIENCE BASED ON YOUR INTERESTS: • FIRST TIME PEEK AT ISRAEL • START-UP INNOVATION • MODERN ISRAELI SOCIETY: • ARTISTIC, CULINARY & A WEEK IN THE LIFE CULTURAL DELIGHTS WE HOPE YOU’LL JOIN US. JEWISH ATLANTA IS GOING TO ISRAEL! 'sb e Jewish Federation From $3,000* per person *Land only Connecting For more information or to register, visit frjx\ Community . . mssSnS JewishAtlanta.org/Mission2014 www.ReporterNewspapers.netl OCT.4 —OCT. 17,2013 | 7
