Stories
Eugenie Kirenga
In 2005, Eugenie Kirenga traveled with her one-year-old son from Rwanda to the United States to visit her two sisters who were attending school in Pittsburgh, PA. But as her return date approached, news broke that Rwandan soldiers, who had left the country during the genocide, were returning to the… Read More
Juan Arias
In the late 1990s, at age 21, Juan Arias fled economic crisis in his native Ecuador. He landed in Richmond, Indiana, a small town with few Hispanic people. “When people saw me, they’d stare at me like I had a third eye,” he recalls. “It was isolating. I went from… Read More
Mohamed Al-Hamdani
In 1990, when Mohamed Al-Hamdani was eight, he and his family fled Iraq. Al-Hamdani’s father was part of the uprisings against Saddam Hussein, and the country was no longer safe for them. After two years in a Saudi Arabian refugee camp, they were resettled in Dayton, Ohio. It wasn’t easy. Read More
Mexican Immigrant Family Finds Success in Ford County
Jesus Carlos RiveraFirst Generation Immigrant In 1993, Jesus Carlos Rivera, his wife and their four children, ages 12 through three, immigrated from their native Mexico to Dodge City. Rivera’s sister-in-law is a U.S. citizen and was already living in Kansas. She told the family that the United States… Read More
Sudanese Refugee Found Safety as Kansas Resident
Ehlam AbdallaSudanese refugee Ehlam Abdalla grew up as a child of farmers in rural Sudan. She remembers her early life as happy but, when she was still a young child, violence from the Second Sudanese Civil War hit their village. Many families were dispersed. “We spent years moving from… Read More
Lao Refugee Becomes Engaged Community Leader in Minneapolis
Sunny ChanthanouvongExecutive Director of the Lao Assistance Center When Sunny Chanthanouvong arrived in the U.S. with his family as a Lao refugee, little did he know he would soon be among 13,000+ rebuilding their lives in Minnesota, a state as different as one might imagine from Southeast Asia. It… Read More
Indian Researcher Starts Non-profit to Serve South Asian Community in Minneapolis
Raj ChaudharyCEO, SEWA-AIFW When Raj Chaudhary moved to Minneapolis in 1968 to become a cancer researcher at the University of Minnesota, she felt like a pioneer. At that time, the Twin Cities’ Indian community was small. And as it grew, newcomers would frequently tap earlier arrivals like Chaudhary and her husband… Read More
Somalian Refugee Launches Interpretation Company in Minneapolis
Khadija AliCEO, Global Language Connections Former child refugee Khadija Ali is a natural advocate. “I believe everyone has a voice,” she says. “And I didn’t want a language barrier to be a deterrent for anyone’s well-being, which is what happened to my family members.” Ali came to America at… Read More
Argentinian Cook Starts Food Business in Minneapolis
Belén Rodríguez Owner and Creator of Quebracho Empanadas When Belén Rodríguez moved from Argentina to Minneapolis with her American husband in 2012, she quickly developed an international social circle. She worked as a Spanish interpreter at Hennepin Healthcare, where her colleagues all over the world spoke 130 languages. “From Somalia to Russia,… Read More
Jordanian Immigrant Establishes Printing Company in New Jersey
Alia SuqiOwner, Nextwave Web Growing up in Jordan as one of 14 siblings, Alia Suqi always knew she’d have to work hard to find her own way. Her parents were supportive, but there weren’t many opportunities for a young woman in Jordan — so after finishing high school in… Read More
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