People from all around the globe come to America every day seeking a better life. Through these journeys, Immigrants have to keep hope and stay resilient, so they can overcome the multiple obstacles they have to face in order to achieve their dream.
Eden Kidane is an immigrant from Eritrea who came to the states to complete high school and now the owner of a small business here in Charlotte, NC. Another immigrant to the US is Sergeant Benavides-Lemus, a current Marine Corps recruiter and an immigrant from Caracas, Venezuela.
When Kidane was young, she lived in a small town in Eritrea with her family. She has many happy memories there, but at the age of nine, she had to leave due to a rising conflict in the country. To escape the mass killings, she traveled for eight days and eight nights to Sudan. Kidane and her family left their home with nothing, not knowing whether or not Sudan would be a place of opportunity.
When Kidane and her family made it to Sudan, they were able to stay in somebody's home for a short while before they were able to get an apartment. In under three months, Kidane’s mom was able to find a job allowing her family to rebuild themselves. This was a great example of the resilience that the Kidane family had inside them.
Shortly after settling, they lost everything again when a catastrophic flood hit the city. Kidane and her family were sent to a refugee camp by the UN, constantly at risk of being sent back to Eritrea because they didn’t know Arabic and weren’t Sudanese. This led to uncertainty throughout the family of whether or not they would be able to stay in Sudan; however, they kept hope.
At the age of twelve, Kidane took an exam to see whether or not she would be able to leave the refugee camp and attend sixth grade. With financial aid from the UN, she and three other people from the refugee camp went to the capital of Sudan, and were given thirty dollars per month to go to school and live in an apartment. Even at such a young age, she was still very determined to go to school and have a better life than what she had before.
After taking her high school entrance exam, a pastor from America came to her apartment and asked her if she wanted to attend a high school in America. Her parents quickly agreed and sent Kidane off. Kidane however, was not so quick to the decision, since she would have to leave her family and live alone at a young age.
She eventually accepted and flew to a high school in Florida. Shortly after, her family moved to the states as refugees, but since she came to America with a student Visa, she was only allowed to stay in the US for a limited amount of time. Kidane, for the next four years had to convince immigration officials to let her stay in America since her family no longer lived in Sudan.
After this long ordeal, Eden Kidane now lives in Charlotte NC as a US citizen. Through her journey, she showed many impressive values at such a young age .The dream that she and her parents had achieved was accomplished through hard work and determination. This dream was only achievable through hard work and determination.
What it takes to come to the US?
By John Farnandez
Statue of Liberty a symbol of hope. Image courtesy of creative commons licence CC0. No attribution required.
Shortly after submitting his application, he received a letter informing him that his application to the Marines had been declined because he was an illegal alien. This shocked him because he always thought he had the proper documentation to be a legal American; however, he finally realized that he was an illegal.
After this chain of events that almost crushed his dream, Benavides-Lemus found himself lost. He tried to take different classes at a community college, but he couldn't find another passion. Everything he had strived for was denied from him, and he almost lost hope. He shortly found the love of his life, and married a US citizen which allowed him to get a residency card which let him get legal status in the US. This took 7 years to obtain, but once he got it he quickly signed up for the Marine Corps again and was accepted.
Bendavides-Lemus was only allowed combat jobs since he wasn't a US citizen, but he gladly accepted. He went to Afghanistan as a combat engineer and is currently a Marine Corp recruiter. Sergeant Benavides-Lemus stated, “This country has given me so much and I feel like it’s my duty to put my life on the line for this country.”
Sergeant Benavides-Lemus and Eden Kidane are both great examples of how immigrants in our Charlotte community, and around the nation, have to keep hope, stay resilience in the face of uncertainty.
Eden Kidane, image courtesy of Eden Kidane
Sergeant Benavides - Lemus, image courtesy of Sergeant Benavides - Lemus
When Benavides-Lemus came to the States at the age of 10, his dream was to join the Marine Corps and fight for his new country, the United States of America. In 2002, he graduated from High School in Charlotte, NC and was able to sign up to become a marine.
Eritrean and Ethiopian border dispute map,Image courtesy of creative commons licence CC0. No attribution required.
"This country has given me so much and I feel like it's my duty to put my life on the line for this country."
Sergeant Benavides - Lemus as a combat enigneer, Image courtesy of Benavides-Lemus.
The Charger, December 2017
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