On this week's Maine Watch with Jennifer Rooks, we'll meet members of the Somali Bantu community, and follow them as they try to make their way in a new culture.

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Not all of the Somali refugees who've come to Maine in the past few years share the same culture. About 500 of them belong to a group of rural farmers who were persecuted as second-class citizens in Somalia. They are called the Somali Bantu. Most lived in villages without running water or electricity, and many are illiterate in their own language. On this week's Maine Watch with Jennifer Rooks, we'll meet members of the Somali Bantu community, and follow them as they try to make their way in a new culture. Also, a conversation with Colby College anthropologist Catherine Besteman, an expert on the Somali Bantu, who lived in a Bantu village in Africa before the violence erupted.

Web Extra

The extended interview with Colby College anthropologist Catherine Besteman

Related Stories and Information:

Maine Things Considered 6/19/2007: Probe Results In English Language Benchmarks For Immigrant Students

Maine Things Considered 3/27/2007: Maine's Somalies Struggle With War Trauma

Maine Things Considered 12/21/2006: For The Somali-Bantu, Adjusting To Maine Is Not Easy

Maine Things Considered 3/15/2005: Police In Lewiston Hear From A Somali-Born Colleague About Cultural Barriers That Can Cause Distrust 

Web Site: Somali Bantu Mutual Assistance Association