“Our lives in Bejaia City, Algeria were very comfortable. I was a history and geography teacher, and my husband was a professor at the University of Bejaia. In 2018, we won the Diversity Immigrant Visa. We were excited to start a new life with the American dream and give our daughters a chance to go to a better school and graduate from a prestigious American university.

The first challenge was language. American English is very hard for me. It’s spoken so quickly, and I was always asking people to speak slowly. The second challenge was finding a job. We had to start from the bottom. We were stuck for almost three months with no jobs and had to accept the first one that came our way. We spent so much money on paying rent and purchasing furniture.

My daughters had difficulties integrating into their new American life because they had everything in our home country… We started to wonder if it was a good idea. But we came to this country to provide a good education for our kids, and our kids were the first motivation to stay.

I worked hard to learn English and also started attending ESL conversation classes at the RIC. Then, I attended community college. A job opened up, and I became a Community Care Advocate, helping immigrants apply for things like school enrollment and Medicaid. Now, I am the Director of Programs and I plan all the programs for our neighbors.

We bought a house after one year of moving to the U.S. and became citizens last year. So, we’ve been here for six years, and we have achieved success. I tell our neighbors, “You just have to keep moving, keep improving yourself, and always ask questions.” Imagine America without immigrants—who would be here? We come to build America, and America needs us.”

Hamida Ouali is the Director of Programs at Riverview International Center, which empowers our New American neighbors by supporting individuals, strengthening families, and nurturing community.