'Salt Lake is totally different': Helping Utah's largest refugee community of 10,000
By Sydnee Chapman Gonzalez | February 25, 2023 at 4:04 p.m.
Ibrahim had fled his home in Somalia because of the country's civil war, an ongoing conflict
that's claimed between 450,000 and 1.5 million lives, displaced over 1.5 million individuals internally
and forced another 800,000 to flee the country. He lived in a refugee camp in neighboring Kenya for six
years before coming to Utah as a refugee.
"When I came, I didn't know anything about the system," he said. "Imagine coming from different country
and you don't really understand. Salt Lake is totally different. Life was very hard the next couple of
months, but we try to take it slowly, step by step."
Ibrahim's first time using public transportation is an example of the difficulty he experienced. During
his first week in Utah, he saw individuals riding Utah Transit Authority buses and using the pull chords
to stop. Ibrahim decided to try the bus out for himself after working up the courage for a few days.