Ennosen Yen did not care that Hazma Abdulrahman was from Sudan when he arrived at Concord High School three years ago.
She was just relieved to hear him speak Arabic, the language her mother speaks. Yen, whose family is from South Sudan, was happy to have some connection to the home country she left when she was a toddler.
“To have someone who came from the same country, or who is just speaking the same language, it’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, my family is here,’ ” she said. “The past just falls away.”
South Sudan and Sudan, once one country, were entrenched in a civil war when Yen and Abdulrahman were growing up. Yen said she and her family had to flee their village to escape the violence. Abdulrahman lived in Syria and Egypt for years as a refugee before coming to America.
Abdulrahman said there are still many people back home who have hatred for the tribes they fought against in the war.
“They judge people on the way they look, their language, what tribe they come from,” he said. “There’s still a lot of fighting.”
But in Concord, he said he and Yen’s family have become close friends. There are only a handful of Sudanese people living in Concord, and the community is close-knit. Their mothers get together often to drink coffee and tea and talk about their lives in Sudan.
“I find it really beautiful,” Yen said.
This year, Yen and Abdulrahman worked together to emcee the talent show that was part of this year’s “International Night,” a yearly event at the high school where students bring food from their home countries to share, show off traditional dress in a fashion show and perform.
They were running through the set list in a classroom on Thursday afternoon before the Friday night event. Abdulrahman was wearing a Boston Celtics jersey and Jordan sneakers, while Yen wore a gray sweater and a colorful blue and green headscarf.
“Great job, everyone,” Yen said, watching as two students finished practicing a traditional Nepalese dance. “You guys are amazing.”
Concord High School’s social worker, Anna-Marie DiPasquale, who works closely with the school’s New American population, said Yen and Abdulrahman working together is an example of the power of events like International Night.
“We’re coming together here, and we are a model for the whole world of how you can celebrate each other,” she said. “That’s the message. Not what happened in the past.”
Concord has received 1,422 refugees in the past eight years, which is nearly equal to Manchester, and accepted more refugees per capita than any other New Hampshire city, according to state records.
Those numbers are reflected in the diversity at the local high school. Concord High’s student population was 90% white 10 years ago. Now, 22% of its students are non-white.
Concord High School senior Sana Khan of Pakistan, who helped to organize International Night, said examples of overcoming histories of conflict are something they experience every day at the high school.
She said she saw it recently when two sisters from India, Jasmeen and Arshdeep Kaur, moved to Concord four months ago. Khan was asked to give them a tour of the school. Pakistan and India have a history of conflict.
“On the first day when they came, I was so excited because I could speak Hindu to someone,” Khan said, leaning back on a desk. “I don’t feel the hate some people feel back in the home country. They are people just like anyone else here.”
Arshdeep Kaur nodded. “Our countries are always fighting and fighting, but in our heart, in our mind, that is not how we think,” she said. “Not every person is ever the same. She is our friend and our sister. She really helps us.”
Eli Nsengiyumva from Rwanda, who was practicing a rap performance for the talent show, said International Night is the “best day of the year.”
Fisto Ndayishimiye of Congo was standing alongside him.
“Rwandan people, people from Congo. It’s big trouble. But this, it brings us together,” he said. “We have nothing to fight about anymore.”