For a safe place.

said of his years in Georgia. “We had to sit upstairs in theaters. I remember being 11 or 12 when my mother was working in the fields. She said we couldn’t be playing when Mr. Charlie — he was the white man in the truck — drove past.”

When a Catholic Charities volunteer introduced Osman and Howell in November, the shop owner decided to give him the same chance he received when he came to Cincinnati in 1960 and landed a factory job.

“I had to cross the same kind of line he had to cross,” Howell said. “I try to help people who gone through what I gone through. I know when you’re shuckin’ and jivin’ me. Bassam ain’t doing that. Some Jewish people helped me when I got here and didn’t hold nothing against me.”

Three hours a day in the shop turned to four and quickly to fulltime work for Osman. Howell switched a former full-time worker to part-time to make room for him.

Osman’s salary rose from $9 an hour to $10 to $10.50 and finally to its current $11.

“He’s a hard worker. He’s very grateful. He gets the job done, He’s not lazy,” Howell said. “At 6 o’clock, the American workers stop, sometimes at 10 minutes of 6. Bassam is working at 6:20 to finish a job. He works fast. I have to tell him he doesn’t have to work so fast.

“I have nephews and grandkids who don’t work like that.”

Sometimes, Howell will fix one shoe and have Osman repair the other. “Never need to show him twice,” Howell said. “He can do everything I can do if I show him.”

Howell worked the front desk on a slow summer morning. Osman was in the back of the shop at a machine called a master finisher that resembles a standing, encased power sander. He inked and polished a new pair of men’s heels. He put the shoes on a shelf in front of a box fan to dry. since resettling here.

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops provides $1,075 for each refugee to use upon arrival. Catholic Charities administers that money to help families set up a household.

The Syrian American Foundation provided the Osman family with furniture for an apartment. They attend services at the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati in West Chester Township.

Osman said his children’s teachers at Roselawn Condon School have helped them learn English and adapt to American culture. A Catholic Charities volunteer tutors them.

Osman saved enough to buy a used car. By the eighth month here, he had to start to repay the U.S. State Department for the airfare and travel loan.

Much of Osman’s affection is directed toward Howell, whom he calls “Uncle” in English, for all of the assistance.

“He is a great man. I can tell he cares about me and my family,” Osman said.

Osman’s children decorated eggs during their first Easter season in the USA. They gave some to Howell.

“They love him, too. They run up to him and hug his legs,” said Osman, who smiled at the memory as he rubbed his thin, dark beard with his right hand. “My kids know I am happy when I come home from work.”