Flora was born and lived the first chapter of her life in a village called Bunagana, in a beautiful but unstable part of DR Congo near the border of Rwanda and Uganda. She was 27, a farmer with 2 children, growing corn and beans and raising goats, when she saw people getting killed by men with guns. She and her family walked 3 days through the mountains to Uganda. They eventually got on a bus that took them to the refugee camp where her growing family lived for 22 years.
We asked Flora about her new life in the US. She was resettled in RI last year along with 6 of her 7 children. Three are working adults and 3 are students in public school. In her new life, Flora was deeply appreciative of the availability of food and education, and less enthusiastic about the cold. The first time it snowed she wished she were back in Africa.
Flora learned about our training through a job developer at Dorcas International, a resettlement agency. She liked ESL classes in-person, but found them difficult online without knowing how to use a laptop. She was unsure that she could ever work here without experience. Now she is making money and hopes to find a regular job, and maybe own a house or car someday. It makes her happy that her children have opportunities for education and work.
