African immigrants learn to cope with Maine winters

[Baltimatt]

Heating an apartment is a big issue

But it's not just the novelty of falling snow and frozen puddles. Furnaces, steam radiators and heating oil bills can be just as bewildering. On occasion, misunderstandings about heating systems and cultural and language barriers can create conflicts with landlords, city officials say.

To prepare newly arrived immigrants for winter, the Portland's Social Services division offers monthly "winter workshops," with lessons on how to dress properly, what to do in cases of frostbite, how heating systems work and the cost of heating fuels. The classes are held at the city's Refugee Services Program at 190 Lancaster St. The next class is on Dec. 28.

Some people have never seen a thermostat before and have no idea how to operate it.

[flyboy56]

Heating an apartment is a big issue



Some people have never seen a thermostat before and have no idea how to operate it.

Or indoor bathrooms. Hopefully there will be workshops to explain that trees are just that, trees.

[dsummoner]

What, specifically, does the following mean?

"Thanks to the American people, they get some good nutrition and accumulate some fat," he said. "When you come here for the first time, it takes time to adjust."

[kudzu]

What self respecting African would go to Maine ?

I mean, seriously...

[Baltimatt]

kudzu--

Several thousand refugees have found a home in Maine. Not a large number in the grand scheme of things, but a lot for Maine.

Plus all the gay ones who want to marry starting December 29. I just had to throw that in for you.

[overtaxed]

Why would they want to come here? A lot of the home grown african americans seem to hate it so much here.

[boink]

What self respecting African would go to Maine ?

I mean, seriously...

When the Somalis, who now live in Lewiston, ME, first came to America they settled outside Atlanta.

They soon learned about the crime and bad schools there and fled to the whitest state in the union, to a city, which btw, has generous welfare benefits.

[SalisburySage]

Heating an apartment is a big issue



Some people have never seen a thermostat before and have no idea how to operate it.

The classes are held at the city's Refugee Services Program at 190 Lancaster St.

You deleted my post about the 2nd half of the National Geographic genome project, yet you advertise the city's Refugee Services Program at 190 Lancaster St.

[ericpd]

Hey, if Jan van Riebeeck and his band of thieves learned to cope with Khoisanland heat, then I see no amazement in Africans learning to cope with our New England cold! You?

I'll just ignore all the ignorant and childish blathering!

[jessup270]

The kind caring people of Maine appear to be trying to do the right thing.

Welcoming these African immigrants, seems very humane.

However, the leaders of this movement in Maine, should place a call to the fine humanitarian folks in Minnesota.

Minnesota welcomed the new immigrants from Somalia, now check the link to see how that worked out for them:

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/minn...ennepin-county

[WKDWZD]

What, specifically, does the following mean?

"Thanks to the American people, they get some good nutrition and accumulate some fat," he said. "When you come here for the first time, it takes time to adjust."

It means that very soon, they'll be just as lard-arsed as you are.

[kandace]

Nice human interest story. The real surprising fact is not that there are Africans who migrate to the US, it's surprising how relatively few do so. Since immigration reform in 1965, roughly 900,000 Africans have migrated to the United States, with the bulk having arrived since the late 1980s/early 1990s. That seems like an impressive number but when one considers that 21 million Africans migrated from their home countries in 2010 alone, the smallness of the Africa-US immigration flow becomes apparent. [Interestingly, about 60 percent of Africans migrate to other African countries] In a normal world, the number of Africans migrating to the US would be/would have been much higher than the recent growth spurt we have witnessed since the 1980s/90s. The American economy is huge, about $14 to $15 trillion GDP and in contrast to the European Union, America has a large, historically rooted Black community. The US should be a huge draw for Africans, but, alas America's historic White Supremacist society makes many Africans reluctant to migrate here.

[Baltimatt]

Glad you liked it, kandace.

And just for you, this tidbit from 2008:

Obwohl Deutschland für afrikanische Migranten ein weniger attraktives Einwanderungsland zu sein scheint, leben heute rund 270.000 Afrikaner in Deutschland.

Although Germany appears to be a less attractive country for immigration, today around 270,000 Africans live in Germany.

That appears to be the number of people with citizenship in an African country and does not include those who have obtained German citizenship.

[BlandFood]

So, they going to deport Bobo's uncle or not?

[kudzu]

kudzu--

Several thousand refugees have found a home in Maine. Not a large number in the grand scheme of things, but a lot for Maine.

Plus all the gay ones who want to marry starting December 29. I just had to throw that in for you.

Very thoughtful of you to add that footnote.

But, I'll reiterate... Africans... Maine ?

I'm lily white and I hate Maine winters.

[SemiAuto]

Heating an apartment is a big issue



Some people have never seen a thermostat before and have no idea how to operate it.

Invite them to Maryland for a drive in the snow.

[kandace]

Very thoughtful of you to add that footnote.

But, I'll reiterate... Africans... Maine ?

I'm lily white and I hate Maine winters.

Apparently Black folk are getting used to cold winters. Vermont, which competes with Maine for the title of Whitest state, has seen an influx of African Americans over the last decade:

The number of blacks and African-Americans in Vermont, people who claim only that race, more than doubled," said Will Sawyer of the Vermont State Data Center. "I'm amazed at all the people of color that I see everywhere, from the rise of ethnic restaurants to just walking down Church Street," said Beverly Colston of the ALANA Student Center at the University of Vermont.

And as the black population grew, it was the African-American population from other states that contributed most of the growth. About two-thirds of the black population growth over the decade is African-Americans, only one-third is African refugees. Experts say it's a common misconception that immigrants are fueling most of the growth.
"What you're seeing highlighted are Somali Bantu, our Sudanese black population. And it's wonderful they are members of the black community, but it's not the only black community," Colston said.

source

[boink]

over time these blacks will evolve into white people because of the less intense sunlight...

------------------------------------

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_skin_color

About 70,000–100,000 years ago some modern humans began to migrate away from the tropics to the north where they were exposed to less intense sunlight, possibly in part due to the need for greater use of clothing to protect against the colder climate. Under these conditions there was less photodestruction of folate and so the evolutionary pressure stopping lighter-skinned gene variants from surviving was reduced. In addition, lighter skin is able to generate more vitamin D (cholecalciferol) than darker skin so it would have represented a health benefit in reduced sunlight if there were limited sources of vitamin D.[3] Hence the leading hypothesis for the evolution of human skin color proposes that:

From ~1.2 million years ago to less than 100,000 years ago, the ancestors of all people alive were dark-skinned Africans.

As populations began to migrate, the evolutionary constraint keeping skin dark decreased proportionally to the distance north a population migrated, resulting in a range of skin tones within northern populations.

At some point, northern populations experienced positive selection for lighter skin due to the increased production of vitamin D from sunlight and the genes for darker skin disappeared from these populations...

[Baltimatt]

kandace--

Maine lost the distinction it held in 2000 of being the whitest state in the nation to Vermont, by only .07 percent (95.22 percent for Maine versus 95.29 percent white for Vermont).

http://www.sunjournal.com/story/1005032

[BlandFood]

Did they just build a huge prison in both Maine and Vermont?