As she walked in the room to speak with The Chronicle staff, 6-foot-4-inch Abigail Hungwe commanded the attention of the room. She spoke slowly and deliberately, with a wide smile on her face.
Surrounded by political unrest, Hungwe fled her home country for the United States in February 2008.
Born and raised in Zvishavane, Zimbabwe, Hungwe left her family to travel on a student visa to pursue a degree in building management at Pima Community College in Tucson.
“There is a lot of instability in Zimbabwe,” Hungwe said. “And there is a so-called democracy, but you don’t have a say. The politics caused quite a bit of panic and a lot of violence.”
Hungwe said she emigrated because of the changes Zimbabwe was going through and the dangers that she faced living there.
“In Zimbabwe, a lot of things happen. A lot of people disappear because of their views or the ideology that they abide to. Being a young, active person in Zimbabwe at the time was not OK,” Hungwe said. When asked what might have happened if she had not left her home country, she paused and said, “I might be dead.”
When she moved to the U.S. at the age of 22, Hungwe’s immigration lawyer, Rachel Wilson, introduced her to The Owl and Panther Project, which is sponsored by The Hopi Foundation.
The Owl and Panther Project provides activities for families who have been through traumatic experiences. The project helps find “a refuge within a refuge,” according to the organization’s website. Owl and Panther was first organized in 1995 when refugee parents wanted their children to have special support like tutoring and summer school.
Marge Pellegrino, program coordinator for The Owl and Panther Project, has known Hungwe since she started participating in 2008.
“When Abby first started with us, she didn’t think she could write a poem, didn’t think she’d like to photograph, and she has done both well,” Pellegrino said. “Abby is now a faithful volunteer who helps drive families and helps with the workshops, and offers her gentle encouragement to our families and to me.”
Hungwe applied to colleges in the U.S. and Pima Community College was the first to reply. To finance the move, Hungwe’s mother, Chipo Mampokolo, “had to make quite a few sacrifices,” Hungwe said.
Mampokolo sold cows to raise the money to send Hungwe to the U.S. In Zimbabwe, cows hold great cultural significance. Hungwe said she has since paid her mother back.
The biggest struggle for Hungwe in adapting to life in America was living on her own, she said. In Zimbabwe, she was used to having family around her all the time.
Hungwe earned a degree in building management, and now wants to go to Northern Arizona University for her bachelor of science degree.
“I’ve always been fascinated with buildings,” she said.
Hungwe said the U.S. offers many more resources that give her the opportunity to reach her goals. Zimbabwe doesn’t have the computer access and Internet resources that U.S. schools offer.
“My academic goals have been easier to meet here than they were in Zimbabwe,” she said.
Hungwe said that in the future, she wants to continue her education.
“Five years from now, I will be still having fun and I’ll have met my education goals,” she said.
Hungwe said another positive aspect of U.S. living is the numerous activities she and her friends can do in their free time. Hungwe said she enjoys going on hikes, visiting museums and going out to clubs.
She traveled to Northern Arizona to the Hopi Reservation through the Owl and Panther Project. Hungwe spent the night at the Hopi Reservation and said it was a remarkable experience.
“The Hopi culture is similar to ours in Zimbabwe,” she said.
Hopi culture and Hungwe’s culture are similar through use of the totem, Hungwe said. A totem is a title that is passed from parent to child at birth. The Zimbabwean totem follows the father’s clan. The Hopi totem follows the mother’s clan.
She toured the different mesas, villages, ruins and other historical areas. She said she enjoyed her time there and that if she were invited to the reservation again, she would like to go back.
Hungwe continues to be involved with Owl and Panther as a volunteer, working with other refugees.
“When I was in Zimbabwe, the thought of having a major impact in a stranger’s life never occurred to me,” Hungwe said. “There is nothing like watching how grateful somebody is that you spent time teaching them how to write a sentence in English or showing them how to draw.”