Education has been the key to finding refuge in Kansas City for Engoma Fataki.
Fataki’s family fled a civil war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo when he was an infant. Along with his parents and eight siblings, he lived in refugee camps in four African nations.
“My entire childhood I spent in refugee camps,” Fataki said. “My background is full of trauma… Those things still haunt me to this day.”
Fataki’s father, Fataki Mutambala, now is a preacher who leads a congregation of more than 100 African refugees in the city’s historic northeast section.
Engoma, meanwhile, has leaned hard into furthering his education. He now serves as the student body president at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph. Ultimately, he plans to go into international law.
“I can’t make all the change,” he said. “But the little difference that I can make will impact a lot of lives.”
See more in this week’s video installment of “Finding Refuge in KC.”
Reading these stories is free, but telling them is not. Start your monthly gift now to support Flatland’s community-focused reporting.
Related Stories
Nick’s Picks | Stadium (Again), Fire, ICE and More …
Big questions loom as the week begins — from stadium drama to detention centers to a familiar cliffhanger: Are we heading for another government shutdown? Signs of a New Royals Stadium Deal? Could last week’s closed-door meeting between the governor, mayor, and county executive signal that a deal is finally ready to be made on…
Two Documentaries In The Works About KC’s Historic Northeast
Those seeking to find Kansas City’s Italian-American community can start at Holy Rosary Catholic Church. Inside, at 526 Campbell St., stand statues of canonized historical figures — Frances Xavier Cabrini and Francis of Assisi among them — venerated by the immigrants who worshipped on this very spot upon their late-19th-century arrival. Inscribed on the walls…
Man deported after visiting family grave in Mexico is back in Kansas City
This story was originally published by The Beacon, an online news outlet focused on local, in-depth journalism in the public interest. Evenezer Cortez Martinez is back on U.S. soil, landing in Kansas City Tuesday afternoon after being deported. The DACA recipient and Kansas father of three feared that he wouldn’t be able to return from…