by
Andrea Curl
Black Hawk County is growing from its once white, northern European background into one of the most ethnically diverse areas in the state of Iowa. Waterloo has seen a dramatic change with the influx of Bosnians into the area, beginning in December 1996. Between 1997 and 1999, the growth in diversity has had the city struggling to come up with ways to deal with about 3,000 immigrants from Bosnia, most of whom did not know English when they arrived. This can most clearly be seen in the schools where about forty staff members have been added for the new students. Waterloo and Black Hawk County have changed dramatically within a very short period of time.
The explosion of the foreign-born population in Waterloo is evident in the number of new immigrants and the rate of growth. In 1996, there were only 1,635 people within the work force not originally from the United States. The total Bosnian population in 1999 was around 3,000 people and that number is expected to increase.
Before 1990, most of the 700,000 to 900,000 legal immigrants who arrived in the United States were located in Texas and coastal urban areas like New York and California. Iowa, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kansas, Arkansas, and Georgia are now receiving a large number of the new immigrants, in part because of recruitment by meat packing companies. Immigration to Black Hawk began in December 1996 when the first forty Bosnians arrived in the area due to IBP’s recruitment of workers. Once the Bosnians became refugees, many companies, such as IBP, were willing to hire and help relocate them because of their education and work ethic. Any town that has a large industry that can employ people in jobs in which language is of minimal importance will be the recipient of immigrants. It takes time to learn English, so, in the meantime, they must find employment where speaking is not a requirement.
After the first forty Bosnians arrived in Waterloo from Utica, New York, and Chicago a snowball effect occurred, as families and friends were sent for. There are now about 3,000 in the area. Five hundred and thirty-seven Bosnians were processed in Waterloo in 1997 and five hundred in 1998. The other Bosnians are secondary immigrants, which means that this is the second place they have lived within the United States. Even though the numbers are now starting to taper off, there are many people waiting to come to the United States, a situation that will continue for the next five to ten years.
Many of the Bosnians who arrived in the Cedar Valley in 1999 had been living in Germany for some years but were forced to move. Germany offered socialized medicine to the Bosnian families when they first arrived but could no longer afford to support them, so the Bosnians left for the United States.
The immigration of refugees is changing the face of Waterloo and the Bosnians are now the second largest minority group in the area. Black Hawk County was settled by Germans in the south, French in the east, Irish and Scots in the northeast, and the Norwegians and Danes in the west. These are the groups that still dominate the population. It was not until 1911 that African Americans started to move into the area in great numbers. They were drawn to the county by jobs with the Illinois Central Railroad, which resembles the migration of Bosnians looking for work. In 1999, the minorities’ numbers were about 9,000 African Americans, 1,500 Hispanics, and a few Vietnamese and Iraqis. So, within just a few years the Bosnian refugees’ numbers have increased at a more rapid pace than the other groups.
Once the immigrants arrive in the United States help is needed to start the process of finding a job, a place to live, and learning the language. In Waterloo, Lutheran Social Services plays an important role in integrating those newly arrived into the area. Once someone flies in, Social Services picks them up at the airport and takes the immigrant to a family member’s, a friend’s, or a sponsor’s home. After three days to a week a caseworker stops in so that the newcomer has time to adjust to new surroundings. At this time all the paperwork is handled, such as determining the structure of their family and what type of work they are seeking. Lutheran Social Services provides job coaching, helps with the search for a place to live, and culturization. Orientation sessions are held in order to help explain the city, police, healthcare, and other public services. These orientations are usually on a one-on-one basis, due to varying job schedules that make it hard to organize a group. Most of the Bosnians moving to the area are familiar with the procedure and who to contact since they usually know someone here before hand.
Many of the immigrants who arrive in Waterloo from Bosnia are highly skilled, with professional backgrounds and many have doctorate degrees; some of them are doctors, lawyers, or engineers. It is difficult for them to work in factories, where the labor is repetitive and physical. It does not suit them; however, the immigrants are restricted, because they must find jobs where language is not a barrier and this is usually in a factory, such as Omega Cabinets or IBP. Most of the Bosnians realize that learning English is required to get a more suitable job so they are taking classes at Hawkeye Community College. Besides working five or six days a week they are also taking night classes to learn English. The community college has seen an increase in their enrollments from 50 to 650 non-traditional students.
Glennis Formwalt, who helped to organize about 450 volunteers at Nazarene Lutheran Church, lectures around the community to help people understand the Bosnian Refugees. She always stresses that the immigrants are just like everyone else, just from a different place. During her talks, she tells the groups about when the families first arrive:
[The Bosnians] wake up in the mornings with the same needs as we have- an alarm clock, a bed, a pillow, sheets and a comforter which for many do not yet exist. In the summer they awoke to the promise of an 80-90 degree high and no fan in an apartment which has windows on only one side. They struggle to work at a job which does not match up to their training in order to put food on the table and to pay rent. They strive to learn English on their own, because the Success Center is beyond walking distance. They sometimes must accept hand-me-down clothes that no one should be expected to wear. Yet, they are grateful for the life they have in America for they are free from the refugee camps and the prisons of their own homes.
For most Bosnians, it does not take much time for them to get on their feet once they have a job. By working hard and saving, the immigrants are able to buy a car and possibly a house, within a few months.
It is likely that most of the Bosnian refugees will be staying in the area as long as they are able to find work. They are beginning to buy houses in the area, the bigger and older houses with porches, and in mostly the same neighborhoods. The refugees have a desire to gain back a degree of what they had before the war in Bosnia. The families were forced to leave their homes and abandon all their possessions, except what each person could carry in one duffel bag.
Operation Threshold hosts a training seminar, in Serbo-Croatian, on buying homes and gives advice on money management, credit, home-buyer responsibilities, mortgages, and insurance, and offers possible financial assistance. Some Bosnians have opened their own businesses in the area, such as the Europa Market, Bosnian Restaurant, three different bars, and a Bosnian bakery. These businesses offer Black Hawk residents a chance to sample food from the eastern European country.
Part of the integration process for the Bosnian children involves entering the school system as soon as possible. In the past two and a half years more than 600 Bosnian students have entered the county’s school systems. The school systems started to feel the strain by March of 1997 when the number of English as a Second Language (ESL) students increased from 40 to 50 Hispanics and a few Vietnamese. The Waterloo school system initially tried to keep the ESL students in one school, which used to be Elk Run Elementary School, and in West Middle and High Schools. New sites have been opened to deal with the overwhelming number of students as each school has filled to capacity. The schools currently holding ESL programs in the 1998-99 school year include Elk Run Elementary, Jewett Elementary, Orange Elementary, West Middle School, Central Middle School, and Hoover Middle School; West High continues to be the only high school. Most of the students have to be bussed to school because they do not live in the school districts where the ESL programs are set up. The reason that the schools were picked was solely logistical; the schools had the room and were available. With all of the new students, the number of certified ESL teachers increased from four in 1996 to around 22 to 24 in 1999. The schools have also employed 21 native language interpreters to help in the classroom since the teachers do not know the language.
Elk Run had virtually no warning of the number of new immigrant students it would be receiving. A week before appearing, Elk Run was informed that there would be some new students arriving.
The change began Dec. 9, 1996, the day Gail Moon [an elementary school principal] looked down the hall and saw nine students walk through the doors of Elk Run Heights Elementary School. The children and their parents were confused, bewildered and excited.
Even in 1999, there was only one certified ESL teacher who could speak and write Serbo-Croatian, the Bosnian language, so interpreters and physical responses are used to teach the children. To add to the situation, many of the new refugees have not even had formal schooling in their own native language because of the problems in their home country. Gail Moon says:
So if they come in as a ten- or eleven-year-old you would expect that they would be able to read or write at a certain level in their own native language of Serbo-Croatian or Spanish. But the fact is, they’re virtually illiterate. So it would be much like taking a student in America that for some reason or other just was not put into formal schooling until fourth, fifth, sixth grade and starting at this point.
It is hard for the Bosnian students to get help at home because their parents know no more English than they do, and oftentimes less. Actually, for the most part, the students are working and learning at a much faster rate than their parents, so the children often have to be support systems for their parents who are learning English. The schools realize this and "know that if the children are going to be able to do the assignment, they have to be pretty autonomous when they send [it] home." When students are placed in regular classrooms, it is in-groups and often an interpreter goes along so that the homework can be better explained.
Black Hawk County has not gone unaffected by its changing population. The school systems have been strained financially because of the number of new students and also the new faculty that has been hired. The state gives a monetary amount for each student, but often it will take a year to receive the funds. The administration was forced to play catch up, but it went well because they worked as a team and prevented a crisis. Obtaining school material has also been a struggle. Although tools are readily available in Spanish, nothing exists in Serbo-Croatian to aid in teaching.
Even with the struggles, the Bosnians have affected the community in a positive way. Everyone, and especially the students, is exposed to different cultures and languages. For example, the students at Elk Run have expressed an interest in learning Spanish and Serbo-Croatian, so the school is exploring implementing a program, as best it can. The refugees are also changing the dynamics of the population and helping the economy. Iowa has one of the largest elderly populations by state and Black Hawk ranks higher than most counties in the state. The area will not be hurt by 3,000 young people who are good, willing workers.
The recent Bosnian immigration has influenced Black Hawk County in several ways. The nature of the refugee immigration has had a great impact because of the large amount of people who arrived in a short period. They have added a new dimension to the area and will continue to be an influence.
