Click the names below to view the stories of those seeking humanitarian aid, and finding refuge at
Amerie
21
Uganda | Turkey | LA | Detroit
I am Amerie, I am 21 years old from Uganda and I am seeking asylum.
Uganda is a beautiful place, I enjoyed growing up there as I had my family with me. There was more school in my life than being at home, as I lived mostly at a boarding school. I studied sciences - biology, chemistry and physics. One day I started studying for my exams and then I had to leave abruptly. I just vanished, I had to leave for my safety. I found a friend's place where I could stay for my survival. My mom helped me a lot during this transition. She helped secure an appointment for a visa at the embassy, which I received. Then I had to fly. My flight took me from Uganda to Turkey then onto Los Angeles and then to Detroit. I was so scared, as it was my first time ever leaving my home, Uganda. That's the only place I knew. Walking onto the plane for the first time, my whole body was numb, just so numb. I kept thinking this is not how I planned my life to be. I didn't know where I was going or who I was meeting. But I knew I had to leave. My mom couldn't protect me anymore.
I was so tired and numb that I slept most of the time on the plane. The flight from Turkey to LA, I missed the last meal, so when I landed in LA I was so hungry and lost, I didn't have my connecting ticket yet and didn't know where to get the ticket. Also when I landed my phone died, as I didn't have the right adapter to charge my phone, so again I was just so numb and upset. I didn't have any money, no way to show I had a connecting flight because my info was on my phone which was dead. I was stranded for almost 24 hours at the airport. So I spent many hours walking around the airport with my suitcase trying to find someone to help me charge my phone. I think I know the entire layout of the LA airport. I met one man in the airport who offered me an adapter to charge my phone which he then told me I could keep. Then I had another guy ask me if I wanted drugs. I thought to myself, this should not be my welcome here. So I grabbed my suitcase and ran away from him.
The next morning when I walked onto the plane for my flight to Detroit, I was so hungry and dehydrated, I almost fainted walking to my seat and I guess a flight attendant noticed and she helped me to a seat in the back and gave me some water and food. Upon landing my mom's friend picked me up. It was crazy that she had a friend in Detroit that she knew from her childhood in Uganda. He agreed to help me out and I was so appreciative, but all I could do every day was cry.
I knew this wasn't home and I wanted to feel home. I didn't know how I would get there. To have those feelings of this is home to me. I told myself this is your reality now. You have to be a grownup. What 19 year old leaves school without knowing their future, no plans, nothing. A new place. No home. In a country where I don't know anything or anyone besides this stranger my mother knew who I lived with. When I reached Freedom House my thoughts got better. I felt better. Everything for me started to turn around like I hoped it would. I knew it would be difficult at times, as this is another step I have to take in order to feel safe and finally feel at home.
When I first arrived through the doors I heard music and a bunch of people were dancing along with the staff. It was so wonderful to see. It swept away some of my fears. I felt at the time I was entering another stranger's home though, as there are a lot of strangers here from all over the world. But then once I walked around and met some of the people, everyone seemed so chill. I thought wow, a lot of these people are like me. When I stayed with my mom's friend, they were not like me. They had a family. They had papers. They could move freely. I think that is why it never felt like home living with them. I needed to be with a family that was like me. And that is what Freedom House is. A group of people and families like me. When I leave here I want to go to medical school.
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Solomon
47
The Democratic Republic of the Congo | South Africa | Europe
DC | Detroit
I am originally from The Democratic Republic of the Congo. I've spent the last 15 years living in South Africa. I love and miss the Congo very much. I grew up in the Southern part of the country which is the second largest region in the Congo and is close to Zambia. It's a very beautiful region, close to the sea and has a lot of mining opportunities. Lubumbashi is the name. I was born there. I worked there. I've done my studies there. After that I attended university in Lubumbashi. There was a time I had to move to where my parents reside, which is in Kasai. Just for a couple of years I think, which was after secondary school before heading to university. So most of my life has been spent in Lubumbashi, it's the first city I know. It's where I meet my first friends and I've enjoyed everything I've done there.
Until I left, I missed that city. So when I attended university in Lubumbashi I studied international relations but when I moved to South Africa, I studied something very different. I moved to South Africa in 2005 and resided in Cape Town. It was a very difficult transition for me. When I arrived in Cape Town the only word I spoke was "money" as I could only speak French at the time. I found myself in a city where everyone was speaking English and where if you want to work you have to at least speak some English - it was very, very difficult for me. I didn't know the vocabularry in order to speak to people and you need that to get by. The friend that welcomed me to Cape Town told me you cannot not do much of anything other than push a trolley. I was very grateful for him and his honesty. That was a job where you don't have to speak. You just have to push a trolly, carry luggage for people. I thought to myself, I don't have a choice.
This didn't come easy because of my background. Before I left Congo I had already established myself as a businessman. I was doing something. I knew how to make money and have a nice living. At this time, my wife was still living in the Congo, so I knew I had to take any job I could to send money back home to her. So I ended up pushing trolleys. I basically was working at the bus station carrying peoples luggage to and from the station. Then from the bus station to the taxi lane. I worked there for almost a year. While working there I also was trying to push myself to learn English. I was not going to school to learn, which was difficult. I had to learn on my own in the streets. I would learn by always asking people questions, like what does this mean? What does this say? How do you say this? I was always asking a lot of questions that one guy kept asking me why am I asking so many questions. So by the end of June in 2006 I could communicate with people. I could finally say something. I could construct a sentence.
When I finished working at the bus station I got a job as a security guard. Then I realized I missed my other job very much. I missed communicating with people and learning English. When I worked as the security guard I stood in one area the entire time and I rarely ever spoke with anyone. Sometimes there were no people. All I was doing was looking at their building. It was really sad. I worked there for six months and then there was a strike amongst public service laborers. So there were no people working and because of my circumstances I needed to make money to send something home to my wife. So we started working without uniforms but it was dangerous for me as they started killing people during this period. The South African authorities would see you and they could just burn or kill you. I came to the United States a little over a year ago, after leaving Cape Town. I left and entered Europe for my transit papers and came here. I didn't know what to expect when I arrived. It was scary. You hear so much about the United States. In order to feel more at home when I arrived, I made sure to bring most of my books. I love to read and I read a lot.
I landed in DC for one or two days then I took a bus to Detroit. I arrived in the city on May 13th in 2019. So basically the problem I endured, which I cannot share with you, happened to me while living in South Africa, that forced me to seek asylum. I had a friend that was staying with Freedom House and he told me to look into them, as they are a place that can help me seek asylum. He mentioned they will look into your case and help provide a lawyer for you and they also offer a shelter, so you can stay on the premises. After arriving at Freedom House, I was welcomed so warmly by the staff and the people. They gave me something to eat then prepared my room for me. I slept a lot that first day. After that I started meeting people who were very nice people. I made many friends here. And a lot of them have left already. I spent a great deal of my time talking with the other residents, when I first arrived I shared a room with another guy from the Congo. That made me feel right at home talking to him.
Nowadays I spend time watching sermons on my laptop and of course reading a lot. I talk with friends and family back home quite a bit. Currently I am working a few days a week at Amazon while I am waiting to transition out of Freedom House into my own place. My mission is to study and work for god and the church. I also wanna continue to study business as well. As I owned my own business in Congo for many years. I honestly want to still create and offer something to the community, as in jobs to people - people in my position.
My wife is still in South Africa. She joined me there in 2006, a year after I moved there from the Congo. We now have two daughters. One is 13 years old and my second is 4 years old. My oldest will go to high school next year. I miss them a lot. If someone asked me if I could have anything right now, like a wish, I would want my family here. If only one thing to choose from, it would be my family. I do talk to them but I miss them an awful lot.
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