HAITIAN IN AMERICA
By Aidan Gasse
In a new country Never would anyone say I am Haitian, but they say I’m black. When we populate a form online and they ask? What is your nationality? We cannot choose Hispanic though haiti and Dominican Republic are the same island Hispaniola. Why is that? Haiti is the only country created and run by former enslaved people. Before the island was divided, Haitians and Dominicans were one. Politics and greed divided us, now 1/3rd of the island on the western side is Haiti. The Dominican Republic side became Spanish.
This is the Biden era, America receives a new worker, that’s you. There are people back home depending on you to find work and send them money. You have no time to waste. You have to make a plan towards being Self-sufficient. What do I mean by that. The people who sponsor you are giving you a place to stay. They may have rearranged their home to make a spot for you. Be useful, while you don’t have a job yet. Keep the house clean, but don’t do things without asking. Wash the dishes, cook, take out the garbage help in some way to make it seem like you’re not a burden. Talk to your sponsor and tell him your plans.
The sponsor does not have a lot of time, so when they go out with you make it count. Look for a job, remember you only have a short time to do this. You must earn a living. Find out where to take public transportation because there won’t always be someone to take you to an interview. You want to work in the meantime go to a school to learn English. Do whatever gives you some money. It’s not for long, in three months you should be fluent. English is the language you need to make money. Otherwise you will be at those people’s house or doing the minimum wage job forever.
Be nice wherever you go. The people, the bosses and the acquaintances will remember the nice lady who spoke very little. When you are kind, while interviewing, people think about you for a position. My mom was kind, and because of that she was recommended to watch a famous doctor’s baby. She didn’t know too much English but she knew enough to get her foot in the door. The doctor asked her to live with them and take care of her baby. Three years went by and my mother was bringing her two daughters to the United States. She had saved enough money to get an apartment. The doctor did not want her to leave. She allowed my mom to stay with her two kids in her home. We went to school, played with her son and lived in an address they could only imagine.
It was a wonderful house. But Haitians don’t stay with people too long, they are used to having their own home. By the time we finished high school, my mom who was a teacher in Haiti became a nurses aid. She went to night school while we watched the kid. It’s time to follow your dream. Be the person you wanted to be. America gives you the opportunity don’t waste it. My mother retired in her own home. She worked hard so my sister and I could have a life better than hers. You can too.