CHICAGO (AP) - Baraka Kubaya celebrated his birthday on Monday. So did the Sudanese refugee's wife, co-worker and next-door neighbor.
They all came to Chicago as refugees from Africa, and for various reasons their actual dates of birth were never recorded.
When refugees leave or enter countries, aid workers or government officials require birth dates on forms. Without definitive proof, officials often enter the easiest placeholder: Jan. 1.
In cities like Chicago, which has a large refugee population, group birthday celebrations are common on New Year's Day. Many of the parties combine traditional rituals from home countries with American adjustments, like balloons or noisemakers.
Kubaya told the Chicago Tribune that he was born 45 years ago during the rainy season, probably around May. He views his new birthday as a symbol of a fresh start in a new land.
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"Finally, it's going to mean something, that I accept that day," said Kubaya, who arrived in Chicago seven months ago. "It will say that I am completely at peace in this new country. It means a new page in my life."
Many refugees come from cultures where births are only celebrated once, said Gregory Wangerin, executive director of the Chicago-based Interfaith Refugee and Immigration Ministries, which helps with resettlement.
For others, their parents never officially registered their births because they were born in rural areas far from hospitals or government agencies.
"The most their parents could tell them was that they were born during a period of heavy rain or during a heavy drought when a lot of cows died," said Hussein Affey, an Ethiopian immigrant who is an administrator for Heartland Human Care Services.
After the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. government screened refugees more closely, Wangerin said. Applicants who did not have precise data risked being blocked from entering the country.
About two-thirds of a 150-member Sudanese "Lost Boys" organization in Chicago share a Jan. 1 birthday. The boys, orphaned and made homeless in Sudan's civil war, plan a Jan. 18 party hosted by Luol Deng, a native of Sudan who plays for the Chicago Bulls of the National Basketball Association.
"It is an event that can bring us together and remind us what we have been through," said Peter Magai Bul, a member of the Sudanese Community Association of Illinois who turned 25 on Monday.
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Information from: Chicago Tribune: http://www.chicagotribune.com
