Kosovar Mother, Son Find Refuge

Her first name means luck, and Igball Hoxha considers herself fortunate to have made it out of Kosovo alive with her son, Kushtrim.

Fearing for their lives, the two ethnic Albanians were desperate to flee their home and the oppression of the Serbian military. Now they have found sanctuary through the help of St. Anselm’s Cross Cultural Center in Garden Grove.

The nonprofit agency, run by St. Anselm’s Episcopal Church, provides immigration and resettlement services. Over the years it has helped pave the way for each new wave of refugee arrivals: the Vietnamese, the Haitians, the Bosnians.

Now the agency is turning its attention to the latest group of international exiles: Kosovo residents fleeing the forces of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosovic and the NATO bombing campaign against him. The U.S. has agreed to take in 20,000 of them.

Since hearing of resettlement plans for the refugees, the center has actively tried to match fleeing families with local sponsors, such as relatives. Southern California is home to an estimated 50,000 people of Albanian descent.

Working with relief officials in Macedonia and Albania to arrange the stays, St. Anselm’s officials found a home for another family this week and is expecting two more arrivals next week. Sponsored refugees are entitled to stay permanently, though most refugees say they hope to return to Kosovo when it is safe.

“This is the time for a little humanity,” said Marianne Blank, executive director of St. Anselm’s center. “We have to reach beyond our borders.”

On Wednesday, the Hoxhas visited the center with the couple who--along with a cousin who is attending college in Southern California--is sponsoring their stay: Dan and Jean DuBose of Apple Valley, in San Bernardino County.

Only two months ago, life was normal for the mother and son. The younger Hoxha, 21, was finishing his third year as a theater major at the university in Pristina, seven exams away from his diploma.

His mother, 45, was an elementary school teacher in their hometown of Gakovica, near the border with Albania. She was visiting her son in Pristina when their life turned upside down.

The night before NATO bombing began, the Hoxhas spoke on the telephone with the DuBoses, who had hosted Kushtrim four years ago as an exchange student.

“We spoke to him the night before the bombing started, They were sitting in their apartment watching the Oscars,” said Dan DuBose.

The day after, the rain of bombs began.

Mother and son lived through 15 days of the NATO airstrikes. Then came the knock at the door by the Serbian military.

“They came, and they threw us out,” said Kushtrim Hoxha. “They gave us 10 minutes, but we had prepared in advance. We were expecting it.”

They paid $3,000 to bribe their way onto a train to neighboring Macedonia. Joining thousands of other refugees, they lived in the camps for a month before being accepted for the United States.

In the meantime, the DuBoses were anxiously trying to learn the fate of the Hoxhas.

“For two-and-a-half weeks, we didn’t know if they were alive or dead,” said Jean DuBose. “Then we got a phone call from Macedonia. Until we saw them, we weren’t going to believe it.”

The pair arrived in California Saturday. They are still dazed.

“How can I feel good [about leaving]? But we couldn’t stay there,” said the mother, as her son translated. Their home stands in ruins, a burned-out casualty of the expulsion.

“We didn’t have phones, electricity. No water, no food. We had to get out,” said Kushtrim.

But he soberly ticked off a list of the relatives they left behind: “All my aunts, my uncles, and my grandmother--she didn’t want to leave. I have everybody there.”

His mother expressed concern for the family and the students she taught. She knows that three of the 44 children in her classes have already been killed.

But the two know their best chances are in the United States.

“It’s hard for her,” said Kushtrim Hoxha. “But it’s better for her to be with me. She can do nothing there.”

His priorities are clear: to continue his schooling and get a job. And the DuBoses will be his support system.