In an area that has been largely paved or developed with warehouses and industry, one of the last remaining parcels of farmland in the Kent Valley is being intensively farmed by refugees from Burundi, a poor country in East Africa that was torn apart by the genocide that spilled over from Rwanda.

When they arrived in SeaTac three years ago from a refugee camp, the Burundians spoke no English and had no job skills for the modern world.

Today they share a ten-acre parcel in Kent with farmers from the Bantu tribe of Somalia.

Their goal has been to grow crops for their own families and to sell at local farmer’s markets, and they’re being helped toward those goals by the Children’s Home Society of Washington and Burst for Prosperity.

As they began their second season of farming, the cold spring weather and the heavy rains set them back, but they persevered and have just begun to harvest crops for the market. Unfortunately, there has just been another setback. On Wednesday, June 30th, at approximately 4 a.m., someone broke into their produce shed, stole their farm tools, their pump, two rototillers, their seeds, and even their work boots. They were shocked and dismayed, but they are determined to continue. In East Africa, they carried water from the creek to the fields by bucket and they were prepared to go back to doing that here if they had to.

With the warm weather, a water pump was a pressing issue. Local writer Richard Glaubman arranged for a pump via Jim’s Honda in Port Townsend. Glaubman didn’t want the farmers to wait for enough donations to come in to pay for the pump in order to get it, so he paid for it himself, hoping that subsequent donations from the community might help him recover those costs.

Glaubman’s generosity was quickly repaid through donations from the Port Townsend community, and excess funds are to be divided between the Burundi and the Somali Bantu to be used toward replacing the remainder of the stolen equipment.

To help forestall further problems, new, sturdy locks have also been donated.

A recent article about Glaubman’s donation in the Peninsula Daily news prompted an outpouring of support; a farmer in Olympia to offer to donate a rototiller and the Port Townsend community provided replacement hand tools.

Donations are still being accepted to help replace the remaining missing items and for general support of the fledgling project, and can be made through the Children’s Home Society of Washington (a direct link to the donation page is here), and please be sure to indicate in the appropriate box that your donation is intended for the Refugee Farmers Project.

Here’s Francis Zera’s Sound Slideshow of the farmers (be sure to turn your speakers on):

Click to Play Francis Zera’s Photo Slideshow

Tukwila resident Serges Hakizimana (pictured, left) will be honored on Thursday, March 11th, by the American Red Cross at their 2010 Heroes Breakfast in downtown Seattle.

Hakizimana, originally from Burundi, has been serving as part of the Red Cross Language Bank in Seattle, where he learned how to bring people together and help them understand each other. From there he started organizing people in other ways, establishing community funds, cultural training and more.

Before Hakizimana was born, his parents fled the ethnic violence of Burundi. They educated their son in refugee camps, which was not an easy task. Although safe from the violence that drove them from their homes, Burundian refugees faced new challenges of confined living, being told where to live and what to eat. They were never required to pay for the things they were given, but nor were they permitted to have jobs or earn money.

In 2007, Serges was one of the first Burundians who relocated to the King County area. Recognizing his unique skill with language, his case worker directed him to the Red Cross Language Bank in Seattle, where Serges learned how to bring people together and help them understand each other. From there he started organizing people in other ways, establishing community funds, cultural training and more.

There are now 30 Burundian refugee families in the Seattle metro area who rely on Serges as their leader. He has taught some of them enough English to find work, and helped others get a small business loan to establish a farm in Kent. Through it all, he serves as a role model, balancing his time between work, volunteer, school and community.

Fifteen heroes will be honored at the 14th Annual Heroes Breakfast – sponsored by Costco Wholesale. Here are the details:

WHAT: 14th Annual Red Cross Heroes Breakfast

WHEN: Thursday, March 11th from 7:30am – 9am

WHERE: Washington State Convention Center, located at 800 Convention Place in Downtown Seattle (Click here for directions)

INFO: All proceeds will support disaster relief efforts in King County. More information available here.