On a cold and dark winter night, dozens of volunteers gathered at Portland International Airport to give a warm welcome to a family of 11.
As the crowd waited, Samira Sariolghalam of Catholic Charities taught everyone how to greet the family — who are refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo — in their native language of Swahili.
“OK, one thing I just want everybody to learn: We’re going to say ‘welcome’ in the family’s language, and it’s really easy,” Sariolghalam said. “We just say ‘karibu.’”
“Karibu!” the crowd echoed back. Check out the full story.
By Erica Morrison, OPB