OHIO

Hawa
CLEVELAND, OH

“If you say you are refugee or you came from a refugee camp, people feeling sorry for you – like you have some kind of a disease or something. You know, like a victim. I don’t want to be seen as a victim, so I don’t really talk about coming from a refugee camp because I don’t want someone to look at me and say, “Oh! You are from a refugee camp? So you lived in a tent?” No, I lived in a normal life! We had adjust. I went to school. I had a scholarship. I went to Catholic school, boarding school. You know it’s not just because you came from a refugee camp, you’re not damaged or anything like that. We are just like anybody else, but – you know- we don’t have a country.”

Photo Credit @joy.bittner

I am originally from Somalia, and I have lived in the United States for 12 years.

Two of my brothers and I came first, and then my Mom came. She was held back. She came a year – two years – almost two years later. So it was just my brothers and I. And the hardest was getting to work. And we – they got us a job, so we had to ride with people that were charging us a lot of money. But eventually we bought a car. So when we bought the car – that was like, you know, this is good. Even though I didn’t know how to drive. And I was telling my brothers, “Teach me how to drive!” And they were like, “No!” You know, “Just not now, not now.” Like, “I bought this car too! So if you don’t teach me how to drive, I’m going to run it to the wall if you don’t do it.” So I just had to threaten them, and then they ended up teaching me.

And my mom, when she came, it was hard for her. It was hard for her to adapt to everything, so she would cry all the time. And that’s when my aunt came, and she comforted her. Because my mom is used to being in charge of everything, and seeing her children, you know, being in charge of everything it just kind of made her – like drove her crazy. She just felt like she had no control of anything. She felt like she didn’t know where to go. And she just felt like – it was just complete culture shock for her. She raised us. She never remarried. You know, she did this: she raised seven kids by herself. And then coming here, I think we felt like she had to relax. You know, “Don’t worry about it! We’re working, you don’t need to work!” But her being that person, it was just like – she was like, “No!”

She even tried to learn how to drive. I paid for her driving school. She took the test once. She failed the reverse, and she was like, “No, I’m done with this! I’m not doing it anymore!” So when we ask her like what is really, like why do you not want to drive? Honestly why? She says her mind wanders. She hears – like if she hears a loud bang or she gets stressed or something like that – you know the war is, her mind is still there. And okay, I get it you know. So she’s like, “It’s not safe for me to drive anyone or to ask someone to teach me because…” You know she’s like, “I can’t focus. It’s too much for me.”

Like when I came here, I didn’t feel like I had to be scared of anything. Versus there where – yeah, you are in a refugee camp – you are supposed to be protected by the UN or whoever or the government, but people get… You know women get raped, people get killed in the refugee camp by the locals and nobody did anything about it. So you can’t really do – you can’t go anywhere in the middle of the night if you want to get up and go somewhere. But coming here I worked any kind of shift – you know, graveyard. I would get off work midnight, one o’clock and I still feel – you know, I still felt safe. So that is one of the best things that I don’t have that fear of is someone is going to attack me or rape me or something.

If you say you are refugee or you came from a refugee camp, people feeling sorry for you – like you have some kind of a disease or something. You know, like a victim. I don’t want to be seen as a victim, so I don’t really talk about coming from a refugee camp because I don’t want someone to look at me and say, “Oh! You are from a refugee camp? So you lived in a tent?” No, I lived in a normal life! We had adjust. I went to school. I had a scholarship. I went to Catholic school, boarding school. You know it’s not just because you came from a refugee camp, you’re not damaged or anything like that. We are just like anybody else, but – you know- we don’t have a country. We don’t really have a country that we can… I mean we have a country that we can claim, but it’s not… It’s hard to understand. For someone who’s here, it’s hard for them to understand. They think that, “Oh, you are a refugee! You have nowhere. You are just basically nobody.”

People want to put you in a box, and you have to stay there. And I’m like, “Why?” You know, I can do anything. Why do I need to be subscribed to one thing? And I have to be just one thing? I can be whoever I want to be, and I am going to go wherever I want to go. It was a decision that I made – I said that every year I want to go somewhere! Somewhere new! I want to see different – even if it is within the States! I want to see different cities, different states. So if I could take a road trip to every state, I would do it, you know. I just never had anyone to go with me. And I’m like, “Come on!” So even if you ask my Mom now she would say, “Yeah, she is ready to go always!” And people are like, “Why do you want to go there?” Why do I need a reason? I want to go there. I want to see what it’s like, and I am always looking for adventure – something new.

I am proud of that I can be my own person, and do what I want to do without being held back or feeling like, you know, “Oh you are a woman or a girl! You can’t work at this place or go somewhere without any restriction.” But I was going to school for OT – occupational therapy – and because I have been in the field for so long, and I just love doing what I was doing. I love working with individuals with developmental disability. And my nephew has autism, so it’s very close to me. So that’s what I want to do – or maybe work with refugees. I don’t know, anything to do with helping people.

In a refugee camp you just wait. You wait, and wait and wait. People wait for 20 years and nothing happens. People have kids in a refugee camp, and their children have children. When they come here it is a relief that they can finally do something with their life. Because in a refugee camp you can’t – you don’t know what is going to happen tomorrow, so you can’t really depend on being there. You have to always be ready to be kicked out – like this government can say, “I don’t want these people here. They have to leave.” And then where are you going to go? So coming here – it’s home, it’s hope, it’s everything.

I have heard that a lot of people think that these people come here just to get food stamps or take our jobs, or something. And that’s not the case! A lot of the people, like my family, we are not on food stamps. We were not on food stamps – we were on food stamps for the first three months and Medicaid. After that they cut us off, and it’s fine! I don’t really want to be on food stamps. I want to work for what I want to – you know, for my daily living. So it’s… But they are just like anybody else, looking for a better life. You know, a home

 

AWS
CLEVELAND, OH

“I miss my home. I miss my friends. I miss my neighbors. I miss the people I was working with then. I built myself over there because I was 10 years old – my Dad he was teach me. He was saying, “My son, I will now tell you something. I am not going to stay with you for forever. And your mom – same thing. So you have to take care of yourself, because when you be adult – when you be like young, and then young man – you know how to take care of yourself. And you will get responsibility for yourself, you know.” So I was working when I was 10 years old. I was working in the park, and then I used to give my Dad like everyday like 10 dollars. I told him, “This is for you.” And just like he said, “Son, I am proud of you, because you made yourself.” And then I was working and I was studying – I had two jobs.”

Photo Credit @joy.bittner

I am from Iraq. I born in Baghdad. So I went to Turkey before I came in United States, and then I went to United States in November 17, 2016. I have been here in United States like year and a half – like six months.

I miss my home. I miss my friends. I miss my neighbors. I miss the people I was working with then. I built myself over there because I was 10 years old – my Dad he was teach me. He was saying, “My son, I will now tell you something. I am not going to stay with you for forever. And your mom – same thing. So you have to take care of yourself, because when you be adult – when you be like young, and then young man – you know how to take care of yourself. And you will get responsibility for yourself, you know.” So I was working when I was 10 years old. I was working in the park, and then I used to give my Dad like everyday like 10 dollars. I told him, “This is for you.” And just like he said, “Son, I am proud of you, because you made yourself.” And then I was working and I was studying – I had two jobs.

So then after that, when my Dad passed away in 2006, it was like car bomb front of our door because my house was front for greenzone when we had American army there. After that I decided to close that park and open my own business. Before like that, I lost my uncle. He used to work with American air force. He was a mechanic, so he get killed also. So it was hard for me, but thanks God, I was so tough and strong. And my mom, she was always support me. She say, “I’m never leave you alone. You are my son. And then I am going just like behind you, and push you.” So you know, this is all happened to me. Then 2014, I went to Turkey. I lived in Turkey for like four years and a half, and then I moved to United States.

I remember when I arrived in the airport. So it was in the midnight. The agency send for me an interpreter, his name Ibrahim. So he picked me from the airport with my family. After that – so I went to sleep, I was so tired. You know, I had long trip from Istanbul to New York, and from New York to Cleveland. It was like over 20 hours. So it was different things for me – it was like different environment. Different like kinds of houses. Different people.

I met my caseworker. She comes over my house, and she was talked with my family. She was talked to me about what’s going on, what she has planned for us. What she has plans, sorry, plans for us. So she was said what we are going to do for that – for you guys, because I have special case because my brother and sister are like disabled. So she has different program for us. She teach us, and the people teach us what we do, what we have to do over here. After that, we was good.

First thing, I want to see my brother and sister like in the right place. So because my brother and sister they need serious, they need so special care – my brother. So I am just trying to see my brother and sister fine, like us – normal like us. That’s all I need. And I’m then right now, I am studying right now, I am working. Right now, they gave me classes for English because my English is not perfect, and then I am studying physical therapy – muscle activation. So that takes for like 6 years to get my master’s degree. Yeah, so this is my plan for five years – or more than five years, for the future.

I have too many stuff, but I need smart people to understand what I am saying. We are not like bad people. We are not. We are doing good stuff, we are human like you guys. So just I wanna say that. Just. I have to many stuff, but I’m just need a little more English. I’m just only remembering what I got before… I wanna tell them everything inside me. I wish all the people live in peaceful, live safely, and they love each other. I wish that. But I have – I believe by that, I am not lose the hope. I always keep myself part of whatever I think. I believe by God he will do it one day.

JAS
AKRON, OH

“The only thing is I miss my childhood friends.  Yeah, I felt like here in US life is way different than there.  Like back there we don’t have a phone or car.  We used to have a bicycle to go everywhere, or like we used to walk.  And here it is like – you have to live your life by your own.  Back there we used to have a lot of friends and community.  We lived really really close – so our neighbors are like our family there, and here I don’t even know who live next to me, and so yeah – well, my oldest, like my childhood friends, some of them are here but we don’t have that really good connection because they are busy with their life and I am busy with mine…”

Photo Credit @joy.bittner

I was born in Nepal, and I was there like 14 years.  Yeah – I almost – yeah, I grew up there.  And when I came here in 2011, and it has been 8 years that I am in the United States.

We came here in January, and we – I went from the middle of the semester, so it is really really hard to catch up everything in high school.  First day of my high school, I wake up early early really early in the morning, like 5:00 AM. And my mom cooked some rice for me, and then my Dad took me till the bus and he wait for me till I went in the bus.  So I had no idea where I am going, I had no idea how the school looked like – so I stepped out from the bus and there were like five or six doors to go!  And I don’t know which door I have to go…  And I had one Nepali friend, so he took me to my counselor’s office.  And after – like I think I spent like half of the day there like doing some work, and after that my counselor took me in the class. So I think yeah, that’s kind of my first day of school.

For like three months, when I was new, for like three months i keep crying and I never – like I am a really outgoing person – but I never used to go outside, I never make a no single friend at that time.  And my mom and dad were like, “Jas, we came here because you told us.  You have to go outside, make friends, try to live here.”  And then my mom was really worried about me, because I used to, you know, talk a lot and like do stuff,  and I stopped doing those things.  I was kind of in the depression, like why is this big change not like what I think!  And my parents handled everything really really good.  So I am proud of them.

Well, there are like somethings that I really appreciate about Americans, culture things. Somethings like you smile to everyone, you say hi to everyone!  Like Nepali people don’t say hi to strangers.  They just like quiet.  And I like that!  I think that American people know how to live their life in a smart way, so I like that, you know.  And I – well, I think that in US there is so many opportunity, you know?  Just grab it, like don’t say I am not going to fit here – just try it, you know, and see how it is going to go!  And if you don’t like it, leave it. Grab any of the opportunities.  There are so many opportunities here!  Like people don’t judge here for doing something, so like just do something what you like to do and everything will be fine, I guess.  But that is the difference about Nepal and here.  In Nepal there is like no opportunity, and people judge you for doing new stuff there.

The only thing is I miss my childhood friends.  Yeah, I felt like here in US life is way different than there.  Like back there we don’t have a phone or car.  We used to have a bicycle to go everywhere, or like we used to walk.  And here it is like – you have to live your life by your own.  Back there we used to have a lot of friends and community.  We lived really really close – so our neighbors are like our family there, and here I don’t even know who live next to me, and so yeah – well, my oldest, like my childhood friends, some of them are here but we don’t have that really good connection because they are busy with their life and I am busy with mine.  So not much connections with them.

Ah, the refugee life is not – it is the hardest life, you know?  You have to live in a small like tent, and we suffer a lot in camp.  Yeah there are good memories, but there are moments whenever it rain or storm scares we have to stay together because we never knew when our roof was gonna fly.  So there’s like really hard moments, or like suffering moments, back in Nepal.  And there is – everyone has a right to a good life!  So if the United States can do anything about those people – it is like a humanity, you know?  It is like a really hard life there.  Sometimes we don’t used to have enough rice, so my mom used to go another place to bring it.  Or we never used to have something to make fire there, and my mom used to go two three mountains away and bring something to cook. That’s really hard life there.  And in here – well, refugee people are like really really talented.  Like if you bring them here, they are going to improve America more because they have the talent to do it.  They are hardworking.

 

Cadeau
CLEVELAND, OH

My first day here in US, it was like a dream.  Like say, “Oh my God! My dream came true!”  So for most people in Africa, we dream about coming here in US and it is not everyone who has that chance to come over here.  So my first day, first of all, I didn’t believe that I’m in US.  It was snowing, and when we took the flight from Chicago to Cleveland we did stop in Pennsylvania because here in Cleveland they told us that it is very very snowy.  So we stayed in Pennsylvania like 45 minutes, and then we went back to Chicago.  And we stayed over there all night, and we slept at the airport. And for me it was amazing!  I say, I don’t want to leave this airport. It is very beautiful.”

Photo Credit @joy.bittner

I’m originally from DRC, Democratic Republic of Congo, and I came here last year in April. So yeah I have been here for a year and two months?  Yeah, we can say that…

My first day here in US, it was like a dream.  Like say, “Oh my God! My dream came true!” So for most people in Africa, we dream about coming here in US and it is not everyone who has that chance to come over here. So my first day, first of all, I didn’t believe that I’m in US.  It was snowing, and when we took the flight from Chicago to Cleveland we did stop in Pennsylvania because here in Cleveland they told us that it is very very snowy. So we stayed in Pennsylvania like 45 minutes, and then we went back to Chicago.  And we stayed over there all night, and we slept at the airport. And for me it was amazing! I say, “I don’t want to leave this airport. It is very beautiful.” It is nice, and everyone saying, “Welcome to America! Welcome to America! Hi! Welcome to…”  So it was like looking around at everyone, everything

What we African people, people from Africa, think about the US is not the reality that we see here.  For example, I remember when I was doing the interview with the RCC – those kind of immigration staff…  You know, people – not them, but people with who I was – they used to say, “You know, once you get there, they will give you your house. They will give you your car, they will put like thousand, like ten thousand dollar in your account bank so you don’t have to work.  Food is free – everything is free just because you are a refugee!” But once you are here, you see that it is very, very different. First of all, you have to learn the language because no one is going to pay your bill or your rent. So you have to learn something new…

But in terms of freedom, this country is the best.  You know, you have freedom – sometimes I don’t believe that people can say whatever they want, can do whatever they want.  Because in my country is is not like that, you shut up and you follow the rules. That’s it. The police in my country are not like the police here.  The police in my country, some of them, they kill people. Instead of helping you, they kill you. Or they mistreat you. So but here, the police, they are there for you.  I mean even in my country, their job is to protect people but they don’t do their job.

Here the country cares about education more than anything else – which is the good thing that I appreciate that I like!  I want to go back to college, I want to study in college and I want to reach my dream. And as many people say that it is a land of many opportunities for everyone.  They don’t mind where you are from, who you are. Just as long as you follow the rules, just as long as you are a good patriot, you can go to college. You can reach your goals.  You know, like in my country, like me… there is some kind of marginalization. Marginalization or discrimination or violence, you know – it’s not good. I don’t like that in Africa, you know.

You as America, you have your culture and I have mine. Sometimes it is kind of hard, as you mentioned it.  In the first year, it is the hardest. Yeah it is, because I – like now, not now, but I have encountered a lot of misunderstanding with people from here.  Because what I do in my country, if I try to do it here, some of things I did in my country, it I try to do that here it is kind of weird. What are you doing?  We don’t do that here! You cannot do that here! The culture is opposite. Opposite, yeah. And to get used to people is also hard. Very, very hard. Once they hear your accent, directly the first question is, “Where are you from?”  You know, sometimes that question is ah – why they keep asking me where I am from? Where I am from? Yeah, because once they hear your accent they say, “You are not from here.” And once they hear that you are not from here, a lot of questions.

No one has chosen to be a refugee.  You become a refugee, you don’t choose to be a refugee.  You become immigrants, you don’t choose to be an immigrant.  Or in French we call them les sans papiers (those without papers/refugees). But it is the situation that push you to do so, or to become so.  So people must understand that being a refugee is not a crime, it is not a sin. It is like being everyone, you are a human being.  You are someone.

Mina
Cleveland, OH

“Because I love this country and because this country welcomed me and my family, I would love to do something that helps this community. So getting a bachelors in engineering or in anything, getting my education done here, will definitely help me to do something for this country. Even if I think about business, of having my own business – this is going to help me and help this country… I mean this is how I see it – people like me, who try to further their education and try to do something for their future, they are also helping their country.”

Photo Credit @joy.bittner

Originally, I am from Iraq and I moved to the United States in 2010 – April 2010.

At the airport, Karin came and my aunt and her husband. Then we went to their house and she cooked some Iraqi food – that’s what I remember! Karin, I had heard a lot of good stuff about her, so I was so excited to meet her! And my aunt – she is one of my favorite people. And I hadn’t seen her for a long time, so when I saw her I was so excited and happy! It was a good feeling.

Yeah, it is a different country, different culture. It is a different experience, but I have family here – so that made me feel like a little bit relieved.

One of the things that I really like is that you can have a great life no matter how old you are. You can start whenever you want, and that’s a great thing! I mean, you don’t get this chance, I guess, in the Middle East. If you – not even just in the Middle East – probably like in general like in the whole world, if you are a specific age, you can’t really start! Like start your education or start your life. But here? No, you have the opportunity to do whatever you want whenever you want. You can live your life and be yourself.

After moving here, after like 8 months, I had to go to American high school and I was the only Muslim girl wearing a scarf. I was – I think – 19, and most of them were 15, 16, 17… They were like really new to that idea. They didn’t know what scarf mean, or nothing. I was so scared. I was so stressed and I had to take a lot of classes. I remember like they gave me so many hard classes like Anatomy, Physiology, English, Math, History, Government… Stuff like that, and I wasn’t really good at English. It was a big challenge. I was so stressed. I had to cry a lot, but I had to study and work very very hard. So… but I got some good teachers who helped me a lot and I got some friends. I tried to stay away from people just to focus on school, and I guess I did really well. I mean I got four point something as a GPA – I was one of the honors students. That was a good thing for me actually. I was so proud of that. And then I went to community college, I got my associate degree. And now I am working on my bachelors, so I am like really proud of furthering my education.

Because I love this country and because this country like welcomed me and my family, I would love to do something that helps this community. So getting a bachelors in engineering or in anything, getting my education done here, will definitely help me to do something for this country. Even if I think about business, of having my own business – this is going to help me and help this country. If I am going to try like to work with a company, this is going to help me. I mean this is how I see it – I mean people like me, who try to further their education and try to do something for their future, they are also helping their country.

I miss the fun days, I guess, in Iraq. Going out at night – going out at night! I don’t know how to say it, but you can have like a lot of fun places everyday, even if it is 9 or 10 or 11 – you will find some places, good places to have fun. The only thing that I can do that’s equivalent is just studying. And that’s what I care about, I care about studying and going to school. Other than that – nothing.

The only thing that might be a little bit confusing to me is that people don’t try to know anything about the Middle East, or like anything about the world. Like one of the things that I heard – and I was really shocked – when I was in high school, when that teacher in government class asked the students, “Why do you think America is really great?” The only answer they had was, “Because America has the weapons.” I was like, “Is this your idea about your country? Is that why America is the greatest country in the world? Because they have the weapons?” I was shocked. I’m like, wow – and they have no idea about the world! They kept asking me, “Where are you from?” I keep telling them, “It’s Iraq!” And they think it is Iran, and we just had a war with America so how come you don’t know Iraq? So these things – the lack of education or lack of information! Which is – till now actually – till today I am still shocked. People, they don’t try hard to know what’s going on.

Yes, I love my country and everything, but if I don’t feel safe in my country – I have to leave. So this is the only thing that push you to leave your country and to be a refugee. I mean, no one wants to leave home and leave their family and leave their life, their system and everything – and move to a different country, different culture, different language, everything! Unless they are really, like, really not in a safe place…

WILONDJA
AKRON, OH

“Being home for me is being with the family and being in peace and happy – that’s when I feel that I am home.  But there are some things which is happening right now here in the world that give me a lot of fear.  Especially in these high schools where there are a lot of shootings! That really scares me, because we came here to search peace. To look for peace.   So when we reach here, there are some places where there are no peace… It can make me not to feel at home.”

Photo Credit @joy.bittner

I am from the Democratic Republic of Congo, and I have been here in the United States for ten months.

Ah the first time when I came here, first of all the climate was different – the weather. But that day it was raining, and I found this house for me here. One room. My roommates made some food for me, so that was the first food that I ate when I come in Akron.

The first thing that I like here is that you people, you follow the rules. You respect the law. Even if there are some of you break the law, but you really follow the law – 100%. And another thing is the weather! I like this weather here.

Another thing is about this issue of racists. Racists are probably everywhere here in the United States, even in the employment there. We used to see some videos on Youtube about the racists and something like that. Yeah, and I think racists are the main problem of your country.

Mostly, I am not really thinking about marriage right now! You know, what I want to focus on is just education, but what I would like to be the future is very hard. Because I have talked to some people and they told me that my career is very hard to get a job. Because in my life, I would like to be an astronomer. But some people told me it is very hard to get a job in NASA. So I am trying to change, and I think I need to take chemistry and I want to learn about chemistry. So in five years to come, I would like to complete by college and school if possible. I don’t know if I am going to make it, but I am hoping that I will.

Being home for me is being with the family and being in peace and happy – that’s when I feel that I am home. But there are some things which is happening right now here in the world that give me a lot of fear. Especially in these high schools where there are a lot of shootings! That really scares me, because we came here to search peace. To look for peace. So when we reach here, there are some places where there are no peace. When your brother is being killed in a school, which in your heart to not have peace, okay? You will not have peace in your heart, because it is your brother who is being shooted. It can make me not to feel at home.

Refugee are people who leave, who escaped from the country, searching for peace! Okay? So if someone is leaving his own country and come to a country to search for peace, and you are not allow them to come in – which type of a person are you? Okay, if you are trying to fight with your neighbor here – they are fighting – so come here to look for, for place okay? For you to save him, but you are refusing to save him. So which kind of a person are you? It doesn’t make sense, so refugee is someone who is coming to look for peace, okay? And I would say that they need to be welcomed, because we can see videos – children are dying, women, men are being killed! Everywhere in the world we can see that. So this idea of blocking refugees coming here, I don’t agree with, by the way. I don’t agree with it.