Maimun & Huda’s Reunification

Mother and daughter reunite after 10 years apart

Huda snuggles into her mother’s side at their Apple Valley apartment, smiling softly and hugging her, as if every bit of closeness might help erase the years spent apart.

“When I left Kenya, Huda was one year old,” says Maimun, wiping away tears as she remembers.

Now, Huda is 11.

Maimun’s mother applied for her family’s resettlement as Somali refugees seven years earlier, before Maimun married or became a mother. When their case was approved in 2014, Maimun joined her mother and siblings on a resettlement journey to Texas, hoping her husband and daughter would soon be able to join them.

“It was very hard,” she says. “The decision to leave her behind is still haunting me.”

Maimun never imagined waiting a decade.

We had been waiting for a lot of time for Huda to spend time with us… We couldn’t wait for her to get home with us.

Six months after arriving in Texas, Maimun moved to Minnesota for more job opportunities, praying daily that her daughter would somehow arrive in the United States soon. Her grief overwhelmed her so completely that sometimes Maimun would hide in her room, away from her mom and siblings, too miserable to eat.

“I was losing hope and saying that I may not ever get my daughter back,” Maimun explains.

Hugs and tears of joy

One of the critical services provided by the International Institute of Minnesota is to file applications to reunite family members who are still waiting for resettlement. Through this process the Institute works to help refugees rejoin their family members.

With help from the Institute, Huda landed in Minneapolis in July.

“I was so happy,” Maimun says through tears, detailing the first moments of reuniting at the airport. “I could not describe that moment… When I hugged her, I cried a lot. I thank God for sending me the Institute that brought my daughter to me.”

That night, Maimun, Huda and their family decided to “do it up” and celebrate with an all-you-can-eat buffet dinner. Huda smiled for photos, hugged relatives, and chose foods most familiar to her, like watermelon and rice.

“We had been waiting for a lot of time for Huda to spend time with us, to eat, to spend happy time with her. We couldn’t wait for her to get home with us,” Maimun says.

Gratitude for a future together

Huda is now finishing her first few months as a New American sixth grader and continues acclimating to life in Minnesota. When she isn’t at school, and when Maimun isn’t working, the mother-daughter duo love spending time together. They frequent local playgrounds and movie theaters.

“I would like to recover most times that she didn’t get with me when she was young,” Maimun says, smoothing out her daughter’s special-occasion white dress, embroidered with delicate gold thread.

Maimun still hopes her husband can join her in Minnesota. In the meantime, she’ll continue making up for lost mother-daughter time whenever she can, encouraging Huda’s dreams along the way.

“I’m hopeful that my daughter will finish middle school, high school, and me and my daughter will make a lot of beautiful times,” Maimun says. “She will be something in her future.”

Reported and written by Alisa Blackwood, Communications Specialist at the International Institute of Minnesota. Alisa’s work at the Institute comes after years of writing for publications and organizations such as The Associated Press, O, The Oprah Magazine, and more. She hopes her writing about Institute clients, students and staff bring to life the stories behind the news headlines.