Fort Scott family to become new U.S. citizens

Tuesday, September 26, 2017
The Ngatia family is pictured in front of their Fort Scott home. Pictured are, from left, Joseph Muhota, Joyce Ngatia, Rahab Ngatia and Elizabeth Ngatia. The family will be part of a naturalization ceremony Friday at the Fort Scott National Historic Site. About 100 people from various countries will officially become U.S. citizens at the ceremony.
Jason E. Silvers

A local family’s dream of officially becoming U.S. citizens is close to becoming real.

Joseph Muhota, his wife Joyce Ngatia and their daughters, Rahab and Elizabeth, who have lived in Fort Scott since 2010, will be part of a naturalization ceremony Friday at the Fort Scott National Historic Site. They will be among about 100 other people from various countries who will take the oath of allegiance and become new U.S. citizens.

The prospect of new lives in the U.S. started taking shape for the family in 2007 when the family was divided, living in different cities in Kenya, with Joseph and Joyce working various jobs in a struggle to support their family.

Rahab, the couple’s oldest daughter, now an LPN at Presbyterian Village, once went to a boarding school in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. Because her parents lived in different cities, the family was only able to see each other on rare occasions. Joyce worked in Mombasa, the country’s second-largest city.

“I got to see them on holidays,” Rahab said. “My mom worked at a stop, like a kiosk, selling items for cooking.”

“I was a businesswoman,” Joyce said. “In 2007, we separated (began living in different cities) because he was laid off.”

Joseph said “things started changing in 2007.” His thoughts started turning toward “a better place to go” and seeking new life and opportunities in the U.S.

“I was offered a part-time job eight hours away,” he said. “Once a month, I got to see my family. It’s a hard time because you have to pay for boarding school. It’s a burden.”

Joseph applied for a visa in order to come to the U.S. to attend school and also help his brother, Stephen Muhota, former pastor of the Diamond Community Church in Fort Scott. He said he wanted to attend Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Mo., and “find a way to get my family here.”

“It cost $100 for the interview for a visa, but I said I’m not relaxing. I hope I’m going to go there,” he said.

Joseph said it took eight months to receive a reply back on the application for a green card. According to information the family provided, out of about 100,000 people from around the world who register, only 50,000 or so qualify and complete the process.

“It’s like a lottery,” he said.

Then one day, it happened. After going through the visa program in 2009-10, Joyce was chosen to come to the U.S. Her educational background, which included five years of college, played a big part in her family being able to qualify and complete the process. Qualified applicants must have an education through the 12th grade.

“If she doesn’t have the education, we don’t come,” Joseph said. “I was OK with that.”

Rahab said she was “done with boarding school” and in a new city and school “where I did not know a lot of people.” Joseph came to her school to inform her of the news.

“He showed up at school and I was like ‘Why is my dad here?” she said.

“By the grace of God, it just happened,” Joseph said.

Because of her age at the time, Rahab had to go through the same process her parents did. Elizabeth, now a sophomore at Fort Scott High School, did not have to go through the process and only waited to see what was next for her family.

When the family first came to the U.S., they were originally supposed to go to Boston, but that plan changed when Joseph talked to his brother, Stephen, and the family landed in Fort Scott.

“My brother told me Fort Scott is a great place to raise a family,” Joseph said.