Out of Country

Why should I be punished? Why should I be the problem?

The children had had to switch schools when the family moved to Howard County. For the twins, the transition was especially hard, says their mother, Zarga.

"They were struggling emotionally," she says. "They don't want to talk. They want to keep away from everything."

D'Angelis, who acts as a liaison between school administrators and students with problems, had never dealt with a situation like the Soubianes'. He learned of their straits when Zarga Soubiane visited Harpers Choice to discuss the twins with a counselor and has since visited the family at home.

"We hear so many stories from so many people telling us so many things to justify coming here to school," says D'Angelis. "So yeah, I had a little bit of skepticism."

But then he got to know the Soubianes and their unusual diplomatic saga. He checked out their story and found it was true. And he was impressed with what he calls the "personal integrity" of Ahmat Soubiane.

Through his network of social service providers, D'Angelis found clinics where the four Soubiane daughters could be given checkups. He helped Zarga Soubiane get a driver's license. He spoke to Howard County police to make them aware of the Soubianes and the possibility, however remote, that they could be in danger. He spoke to a counterpart at Swansfield Elementary School, where Souad is a student, so that someone would keep an eye on the girl.

Her family calls her Su-Su. And she, like her three older sisters, is learning taekwondo, and trophies are on display in the family's sparsely furnished temporary home.

The Soubianes are circumspect in discussing how they are living day to day. A network of friends, they say, is helping them manage. Charity is a touchy subject.

"I'm giving charity to others," Zarga Soubiane says of her old life in Chad, where she had founded a small village school. "I don't want to get fundraising to survive."

The couple say they have been told that several months of salary owed them by the Chadian government has been deposited for them in a bank in Chad. But they would need help there to have it transferred here. They fear stirring security troubles for relatives or bank workers by even asking them to help make the transfer.