By Rick Wright

Staff Writer

When Michael Yobo crosses the stage to get his degree at the Cumberland County Civic Center Sunday, he will make his father’s dream a reality. 

“It’s kind of exciting to me that I stick to what my dad told me. Now that I finally got what he needed, I think he will be happy with that,” Yobo said.

Yobo is one of 650 students graduating from Southern Maine Community College this year, according to Dean of Students Diane Vickrey.

The road to SMCC was long and arduous for Yobo, 23. At the age of 6, he and his family fled Sudan, where Yobo was born.

“That was when the war was getting really bad and people had to leave. We just left the country,” Yobo said. 

For the next 10 years, Yobo lived in three different refugee camps in Uganda. Along the way, he was separated from most of his family including his father. Michael’s mother died in a refugee camp when he was 8 years old. 

Life in the refugee camps was very difficult Yobo said, especially since he spent most of his youth without parents there to help him.

Thinking about his experience in the camps evokes painful memories Yobo is hesitant to talk about in detail.

He said many people lived in tents and some lived in grass huts, even during the rainy season.

“It was bad. It was really terrible because there was no set house that people could go into and it was raining throughout,” Yobo said.

When Yobo was a young boy living in a refugee camp in Uganda his father encouraged him to go to school.   

Yobo’s father never had the chance to go to school but he valued education. He knew his son liked school and was a good student. 

“I know he’s happy because from day one when my report cards came in from school, he was happy with them,” Yobo said. “He knew from then, I was probably the right person that could finish what he didn’t start,” Yobo said.

Yobo is the first member of his family to graduate from college. 

“I just wish he was here to see it,” Yobo said.  

Of all the refugee camps Yobo lived in, he liked the last one best because it allowed him to go to school for free. It was a government-run school with lots of students and plenty of books and supplies, Yobo said.

Yobo never expected he would go to school in America. He was simply trying to survive in a safe place in Uganda. 

“I didn’t know I was going to come all the way to the U.S.,” Yobo said.

With the help of Catholic Charities, a social service agency, Yobo, his older brother, Alfred, and Alfred’s wife and two sons immigrated to the United States from Uganda in 2003. 

Yobo said it took a long time to get out of Uganda because of paperwork, a long waiting list and because his brother did not want to leave without his wife and children.

Alfred, who Yobo describes as “a very smart guy,” was the one who found out about the refugee resettlement program and made arrangements to bring the family to America. Alfred now is working as a minister in Portland.

Yobo still has brothers, sisters, cousins and other relatives living in refugee camps in Uganda. He communicates occasionally by cell phone with his cousin, Alex Kose, who lives in one of the camps.

Communication with his African relatives is difficult, Yobo said, because of the time difference and the unreliable cell phone network in Uganda. Kose does relay messages from Yobo to other relatives.

Michael’s father, named simply Yobo, died in Africa in 2007 while Michael was attending SMCC.

“When I had this report that my dad passed away, that was when things started getting bad. I couldn’t concentrate or study. My mind was always thinking about my dad,” Yobo said. 

But Yobo carried on.

“I got to feel proud of myself because I did it because of his words that kept coming into my mind all the time,” Yobo said.  

When Yobo came to America he flew from Africa through Europe to the U.S. After spending nearly a year in Newport News, Va., living with his brother’s family, Yobo moved alone to a high school in Pennsylvania for refugees. He lived on campus and worked at the school on weekends. He was 17 at the time.

Following high school, Yobo was reunited with his brother’s family, now living in Portland with two additional children. The family of seven people lived together off and on in small Portland apartments for four years. 

Yobo recently moved to Biddeford where he has his own apartment. 

It took Yobo four years to graduate SMCC because he had to work several jobs, including stocking shelves at the Maine Mall to cover college expenses. For most semesters, he was enrolled as a part-time student and did take one semester off.

“It was tough. I faced a lot of challenges but I still passed through them,” Yobo said.

Yobo said he chose SMCC because it was affordable, the classes were small and he thought the school provided a good support system for students in general. 

“SMCC was a good choice for me. People are so friendly. The professors are really great,” he said.

One of his supporters is Rosemarie De Angelis, an SMCC instructor and South Portland city councilor. She teaches English language learning, speaking and listening, and human service courses to international, refugee and immigrant students at SMCC.

De Angelis had Yobo as a student in three of her courses. Aside from helping him academically, she has become a friend and a mentor to Yobo.

“I’ve always stuck by him because I do really believe in him. I do really believe he has a lot to offer. He’s a very, very kind and loving and very sensitive young man,” De Angelis said.

De Angelis has given Michael much encouragement, advice and guidance about personal issues outside the classroom.

“She’s been like a mom to me,” Yobo said.

De Angelis was instrumental in helping Yobo get his U.S. citizenship last year. He said becoming a citizen was one of the biggest accomplishments in his life.  

“It felt great. I finally felt like I had a country after living all of those years in the camps,” Yobo said. “Finally, I had a home. It was a big day. It’s just wonderful to be part of the history of this country.”  

Yobo is considering bachelor degree programs at the University of Southern Maine, the University of Maine at Orono and the University of Maine at Farmington.

He’s undecided about a university major but he’s thinking about a career in the social service field.

With a major in behavioral health and human services, Yobo will graduate Sunday with an associate in applied science degree. He plans to continue his education by enrolling in a Maine university starting in January 2011. 

Rick Wright can be reached at 282-4337, ext. 237 or news@inthesentry.com.