Reborn Maine milling city offers lessons amid refugee crisis

In this Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016 photo, Shukri Abasheikh, owner of Mogadishu Store, speaks with a customer in Lewiston, Maine. "When Somalis came in, Lewiston people, Maine people, they think they need welfare but we don't need welfare. We need jobs. We need peace. We need education," said Abasheikh, who worked as a janitor before achieving her dream of running her own business. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) The Associated Press

In this Monday, Dec. 14, 2015 photo, Abdi Shariff, co-captain of Lewiston High School's state championship-winning soccer team, speaks to a reporter in Lewiston, Maine. Shariff spent years in a Kenyan refugee camp before his family relocated to Louisville, Ky., and then Lewiston. "It just shows that people from different races, different cultures, can all work together and accomplish a goal if they want to," he said. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) The Associated Press

In this Monday, Jan. 25, 2016 photo, students and parents watch a high school basketball game between Lewiston High School and Edward Little High School in Auburn, Maine. The arrival of thousands of Somali refugees in Lewiston, a former mill city in the nation's whitest state, sparked a backlash. Fifteen years later, though, Somali shops, restaurants and mosques serve as an example of how far the city of Lewiston has come. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) The Associated Press

In this Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016 photo, Mike McGraw teaches a biology class at Lewiston High School in Lewiston, Maine. McGraw is also the coach of the varsity soccer team whose undefeated team featured players from Somalia, Kenya and Congo. “It doesn't take long for kids to become Americanized. What I'm happy about my kids is that they have not lost touch with their culture,” McGraw said.(AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) The Associated Press

In this Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016 photo, Abdi Said, right, trims the rubber bottoms of Bean Boots at an L.L. Bean factory in Lewiston, Maine. Said, a refugee, was originally put in San Jose, California, before he moved cross-country to Lewiston. “We are working hard and we're going to school and everything - like regular American people. They see that we are not different,” he said. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) The Associated Press

In this Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016 photo, students walk home from school in Lewiston, Maine. Since February 2000, more than 5,000 Africans have come to Lewiston, a city of 36,500. Fifteen years later, though, Somali shops, restaurants and mosques serve as an example of how far the city of Lewiston has come. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) The Associated Press

In this Monday, Dec. 14, 2015 photo, Austin Wing, left, and Abdi Shariff check out pictures on Shariff's phone at Lewiston High School in Lewiston, Maine. The two students were players on the state championship-winning soccer team. In Lewiston, white residents now see the black newcomers want the same things they do _ a safe place to raise a family, good schools, freedom and jobs, said Abdi Said, a refugee who was originally put in San Jose, California, before he moved to Lewiston. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) The Associated Press

In this Monday, Dec. 14, 2015 photo, newspapers are displayed at Lewiston High School after the school's soccer team won the state championship, in Lewiston, Maine. The team features players from several African countries. Their success is simply an example of teamwork, said Abdi Shariff, a co-captain who lived in a Kenyan refugee camp before his family relocated to Louisville, Kentucky, and then Lewiston. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty) The Associated Press