Garden City family gives new meaning to ‘multi-cultural’

Editor’s Note: The following is part of a continuing series highlighting people in the Diocese of Dodge City who are of different cultural backgrounds.

If there could be a cultural "Four-corners," that geographic region where four states converge at one central pinpoint, it would be the Amante family in Garden City.

In the Amante home one finds a veritable United Nations in miniature; there are no fewer than four different accents spoken, and at least six different nations represented.

First there is the father, Des Amante, born and reared in Ethiopia, the son of a salt and ivory trader. There is his wife, Zina Amante, a Russian pianist from Belarus whose Polish grandmother immigrated to Russia prior to World War I.

And there is Jean Gabriel, the husband of their eldest daughter, Karina, 23. Jean was born and reared in Sweden to parents who emigrated there from Lebanon.

Karina and Jean have a son, Nathanial. He, and Des and Zina’s youngest daughters, Rosaleen, 14, and Theresa, 13, are the only ones in this family of seven who were born in the United States.

Twenty-six years ago, Des and Zina met while Des was earning his master’s degree in agricultural/mechanical engineering at the University of Minsk in Belarus, Russia.

"The only thing we had in common was our language," Des said, laughing.

"In my country," Zina said, "there aren’t too many black people. Where my mom is from, maybe people never see black people their whole life."

Which led to a bit of consternation when time came for Des to meet Zina’s parents. Zina admitted that she was a tad nervous, and at one point even suggested that Des skip the meeting.

"I said, ‘I’m going anyway,’" Des said, smiling. "We were all together and we had a great time."

Until their marriage, the couple would be separated off and on for six years; Des would eventually go back to Ethiopia, and later to Germany, eventually earning sponsorship from a Catholic church in Guthrie, Oklahoma, to move to the United States.

In 1988, he found himself living in Oklahoma, where, separated from Zina and his little daughter in Russia, he worked at Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Getting Zina and Karina to the United States from Russia would prove a bit tricky.

"They rejected me twice," Zina said. "I tried a third time, and they said okay."

"She called me and said, ‘Within two, three weeks, I’ll be there,’" Des said, smiling. "I said, ‘What?!"

Zina was reared in Belarus during the Cold War. Her father, a self-described Communist, had lost a leg in World War II. Her mother had been a guerrilla fighter during the Nazi invasion, when she "lived for three years in the woods."

"I learned bad things about America," Zina said. "In school we learned what to do if an atom bomb fell – get under the desk. I had bad dreams. We had English for two hours a week, but I didn’t want to learn English."

It was from her blind great-grandfather – who prayed twice a day, every day — that she learned "about the Bible and Jesus."

Des’s parents had once owned many acres in Ethiopia, but during the Italian occupation of World War II, their land was taken and their home destroyed.

"My father was a trader," Des explained. "He traveled 14 provinces throughout Ethiopia, brought salt to the west where there was a shortage, and took ivory to the east. Then the Italians destroyed all our property. One of my brothers was born in a cave when my family was running away."

"When I was a child my priest brother came to our village," he recalled. "I was supposed to help my dad, but my brother said, ‘Dad, it’s time for him to go to school.’ So I was sent to a Catholic boarding school."

Eventually, Des attended university in Minsk where he met Zina. Their racial differences have brought a few comments, they said.

"In Russia, they will tell you to your face if they have a problem," Des said. "This country is better. Even if they do have a problem, they won’t tell you to your face."

Des was quickly able to leave behind his job at Kentucky Fried Chicken, and eventually found himself using his education at Sunflower Electric Corporation, where he has worked for 10 years.

Knowing no English when she arrived, Zina said it was her love of music that helped her learn the language.

"Music is the universal language," said Zina, who sang and played music on the Russian stage for several years. "I joined the choir even though I didn’t speak English. That helped me to learn"

Today, the people of St. Mary Parish, Garden City – where she still sings in the choir — are the happy recipients of her talent, as are the students to whom she teaches piano.