Habitat Families

Kong Vang and Sue Thao and their children came to Alaska from a refugee camp in Thailand via Minnesota. They have been in the U.S. a little over two years. They relocated to Anchorage because they have family here. They also felt the job opportunities were better here and it was a good place to raise their family.

Kong and Sue are both very quiet and soft spoken. Kong is a sorter for UPS and works days. Sue cleans medical offices from 5 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. so she can be home with the children during the day while Kong works.

The family currently lives in a crowded two-bedroom apartment on Government Hill and the walls are adorned with the children's artwork. Kong's sister, Yer Vang - who owns the 2008 Wells Fargo House - encouraged them to apply for the Habitat program this year. She thought they needed to be planning for their family's future!

Currently, after working until 2:30 a.m., Sue often has to park her car in a large lot and walk more than a block in the middle of the night. She is looking forward to having her own home so she will be able to park close to her home and feel safer.



The Mabudu family are French-speaking refugees from Togo. They fled Togo about nine years ago and spent eight years in Mali, where they lived in two rooms and struggled to feed their family-despite Claude's work as a school teacher. In addition to French, the family speaks Mena (the language of Togo), the local dialect of Mali and some English.

When the family applied for the Habitat program, they were asked to drive by the Taku Build site to see if it would be a good fit for their family. They kept saying, "Anything you have will be wonderful." Claude also said, "If you had told me nine months ago that I would have money even to buy my child a bike, I would not have believed you. And now we have the opportunity to buy a home!"

Claude is a very soft-spoken man who apologizes for his limited English...but does so in perfect English. He was a teacher and librarian in Togo and Mali and has just started attending UAA. His goal is to get a degree in French in order to teach school in Anchorage. He currently works at Everts Air Cargo on the evening shift so he can be home with the children during the day whild Kayissan works at the Courtyard by Marriott. Elolo is finishing high school and is in a job training program at Westmark Anchorage. Claude also works with the Refugee Hope Project here in Anchorage because he says, "I cannot forget the people who are still suffering in Africa."

The Mabudu family arrived in Anchorage in February 2008 and say they are very happy living in Alaska. They currently live in a crowded three-bedroom apartment in Mountain View. Upon being accepted into the Habitat program, Claude said, "We pray every day that God will bless the people he is using as tools to help our family." He also quoted Romans 8:28 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."