Poet Fidel Nshombo

POET FIDEL NSHOMBO Fidel Nshombo, a former refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). When Fidel was about 12 years old, the rebels attacked his city. At the time, he was at school and immediately forced to run away from the city, never to return. Over the next 10 years, he made his way from the DRC, through Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa, then finally back to Zimbabwe, a trip that totaled nearly 2,600 miles. While in Zimbabwe, he was identified as a refugee candidate for relocation and eventually came to Boise, which he now calls home. Fidel encountered many untold horrors along the way and has found that poetry is his therapy. He has written 2 works, Route to Peace and Route to Peace 2. After 12 years of assuming he was the only person in his family who made it out of the DRC alive, Fidel has miraculously found, first a brother and a sister, then his Mother and Father and other siblings, all alive. His commitment to community building and healing is reflected in his being awarded the Refugee Integration and Success Award by the Idaho Office of Refugees, as well as being recognized by Boise's Mayor as an 'Honored Boise Citizen,'. But perhaps, most significant, is his nomination to represent Idaho in the Refugee Congress in Washington, DC where he seeks to improve the conditions of refugee camps and ease the transition of resettled refugees. Fidel is married to Aline and they have five daughters.