Campus offers day of festivities
Bosnian family finds America peaceful
alternative to homeland
By Tammy Jo Riebe
The Forum
Red-nosed clowns, pickles on a stick, charcoal caricatures and sumo
wrestling were all a part of Moorhead State University's 25th annual
Fourth of July celebration on Friday.
Moms, dads, grandparents and kids munched on hot dogs and licked ice cream
cones as they wandered about MSU's campus and enjoyed the Fourth's
festivities.
Activities and vendors stretched from the mall to Nemzek Field, where a
Bosnian family served up piping hot gyros to customers.
"I'm cook and like to help my family," said Babaca Moody.
"I work seven days a week and send my family back a couple hundred
dollars every month." The Babaca family of two brothers and one
sister (in Bosnia, the last name precedes an individual's first name) came
to the United States three years ago. The rest of their family is living
in war-torn Bosnia, and Moody said he works hard so he can keep his family
from starving.
"I like America," the 25-year-old explained, "because no
fighting. We come here from Bosnia because my country at war.
" Moody said his aunt and uncle were killed by Serbs who invaded his
home in Bosnia. When he came to the U.S., all he had in the world was a
bag of clothes. "It's hard when people no see what happened in
Bosnia," he said.
"A lot of children die - 2 years old, 3 years old - the Serbs think
nothing. Boom! They're dead." These aren't even the worst horrors
Moody has seen.
The village the Babaca family lived in was Bombed by the Serbs. More than
400 houses were wiped out. "Not one house; nothing left. Everything
broken from bomb," Moody said.
Many factories were also leveled during all the bombing, so Moody's
relatives are not able to find jobs. "That's why I work, to give my
family money so they can eat," he said.
Moody is proud he is able to support his family, even though it means he
works every day of the week. Aside from selling gyros, Moody is a cook at
the Shorewood restaurant in Fridley, Minn. He said sometimes it's hard to
sell gyros because people have a hard time understanding his accent.
"Here is different," Moody said. "The first time was hard
because I speak no English. No school. Learned from people speaking."
Moody shares a two-bedroom apartment in Fridley with wife, his sister
Babaca Harka, 21, her two children and his brother, Babaca Sam, 24.
Although he said their lives aren't easy and he works very hard, he's
happy they've never had to receive welfare. "Look at my hands. We
don't need help from people. We work hard.
"Despite the sometimes-present language barriers and long hours,
Moody said he loves America because he enjoys working. "America is
good for people who like work. Have lots of jobs. I like work."
The Babaca family spent the day cutting and frying vegetables, meat and
pitas, while many other families enjoyed the 25th annual Fourth of July
celebration.
Sharon Swanson of Fargo and her mother Gladys Scheidegger, both from
Fargo, and their family made a day of MSU's events. "This is our
first time here," Swanson said. "We've heard about it, but never
come here before. It's a gorgeous day to be here."
The two women were sitting on lawn chairs under a tree's shade, watching
their grandson play in the grass. "This place has a lot of people
here today, and it's such a nice area to stage something like this."
Some of the day's highlights biggest attractions were face painting,
horse-drawn stage coach rides and the ever-popular bingo.
Angie Cameron, coordinator of MSU's Fourth of July event, said this year's
crowd was probably the biggest yet. "We ran out of hot dogs and ice
cream already today, so either that means we've got more people or they're
just hungrier!"
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