PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Some new faces visited The County and toured Aroostook farmlands on Aug. 19 to see if northern Maine could one day be home to their family farms.
Children from the Northern Maine Community College family interact with their new Somali friend during the panel discussion for adults on Aug. 19. Early childhood professionals from the Aroostook County Action Program and NMCC resident advisers, including Genesis Hart, second from left, entertained the children in the campus library. (Courtesy of Northern Maine Community College)
Forty-five Somali immigrants from the Lewiston area rode a bus to Aroostook and made stops at the SAD 1 Educational Farm and the Amish community in Fort Fairfield. The families have agricultural backgrounds and are having success growing African crops downstate such as kale, collard greens, African corn, beets and okra, but they’re looking for more farmland and might make The County their home.
“We are so excited and we’ve been trying to move elsewhere in the state of Maine,” said Muhidin Libah, executive director of the Somali Bantu Community Association of Maine. “We’re trying to (get a fresh start) so this would be a wonderful opportunity for the families and the organization to try another place in the state of Maine.”
A conversation between the Maine Community Foundation and the Northern Maine Community College on how to bring more folks into the area to combat Aroostook’s declining workforce sparked the idea to bring the Somali families to northern Maine.
“These are strong families, they’re hard working, they value education greatly and I think they would add tremendously to the community,” said Steven Rowe, president of the Maine Community Foundation (MCF).
MCF and NMCC partnered to bring the Somali Bantu families of men, women and children to Aroostook.
“Our role is to help facilitate this type of activity, working with the Maine Community Foundation, we’re looking to bring new people to the area and we have academic programs that support agriculture,” said Tim Crowley, NMCC president. “We’re working really hard to make sure people who live in Aroostook County understand the value of staying here, but it’s also important for us to reach outside of Aroostook County to bring people here that’s what will help grow and sustain Aroostook County.”
Libah said his community is one of the most productive communities in the state and that with more funding resources the families might make the trip north to settle.
