AUG 2 2021
Heri is a Canopy summer intern, a 21-year-old college student, and the first-born child of a family who resettled in Northwest Arkansas in 2018.
We got the opportunity to interview him as he shared pieces of his story with us about his experience with Canopy and about the journey that brought him to Northwest Arkansas through the Refugee Resettlement Program.
It was such an honor to hear parts of his story and to learn about what is important to him, the people who have helped him along the way, and how his hope and strength have carried him and his entire family through a decades-long journey that has brought them here to Northwest Arkansas.
“I am a refugee. I came to the United States when I was 17, almost 18.”
“I was born in Kenya, but my parents are from the Congo. The first Congo war was in 1996, and they didn’t stay long after that. Less than a year later, in 1997, was the second Congo war where over 1 million people died. That’s what made my family have to run, others had to hide. My dad went first to Kenya – Nairobi – and my mom was still in Congo. They were separated for two years and my dad came back to get my mom in 2000.”
Heri discussed how important his family is in his life and the sense of responsibility he feels as the first-born child of five. His family views him as a role model for the rest of the children and he discussed how the timing of his high school graduation played a role in his family coming to the United States.
“I was excited, first of all” Heri said, remembering his first feelings of moving to the United States. “It was just a dream come true for me and for my family. They said they wanted one of us [the children] to finish high school first and then maybe we could go. I was very good in school in Kenya because I was going to school for my whole family. We were [intended] to come here in 2015, but no, we waited. We waited two years and I finished high school the year before and we came here.”
“We came on April 6th, 2018, I remember the day.”
“We came here in 2018 after I finished high school in 2017. We came on April 6th, 2018, I remember the day. We first went to Los Angeles, we stayed for around 2 or 3 days at the hotel, then we came to Fayetteville.
The first day, I met my Co-Sponsors who were very friendly and kind of like my advisors. They helped me do many things like drive a car. When I got here, it was found that I had TB – Tuberculosis. I didn’t have it when I was in Africa – in Kenya – but on the plane, I think I sat next to someone who had TB. So I was lucky, they found it earlier. It is about one week, the early stage. My Co-Sponsors took me to the hospital every Monday for around 12-16 weeks. Every week I had to take shots on Monday the first days I was here. I was sick for around three months with chest pains and coughing – sometimes coughing blood. My whole family was healthy; I was the only one.”
“Their problems are my problems.”
We are a community
Heri’s community in Northwest Arkansas is strong – like a family. Some he is related to, and many are people he met here in the US – all knit together to create a family he described many times as those whose “problems are your problems”.
“We are a community. Anyone who is from our country is just like family. My brother in law is here. He married my sister. My sister is in Australia and he is here – for five years, they have been separated. They were still single when they opened their case so they had different cases – when they got married, a year later, [my brother in-law] came here.”
“There are 18 clans in my tribe. That’s your family. Here, there are not many people from my clan, I have cousins, but in another state there are some – Missouri has some, some are in Oklahoma, Colorado, and Australia – we still talk, we still meet. And when you marry… families come together, their problem is my problem, my problem is their problem – that is the law.”
You can accept some things…
“Sometimes, I have pain” Heri said when asked about his goals. “Not about me, not about my family, but about my country. More than 5 or 6 million have died in my country since 1997. Those are my cousins, my aunties, my grandpa. It’s just any time, I don’t know when, I hear a cousin died. Anything might happen at any second. I’ve tried to accept it but it’s hard. You can accept some things, but you can’t accept death. So my goal, mostly, to be honest with you, is if I’m lucky 20 years from now, or 10 years from now, if the war is over, I’d like to go over there and help them as a civil engineer. I’d like to help them build more roads and build more buildings because they were destroyed in the war – just help them.”
In a moment of pause in the interview, considering the heaviness of his words, he said “but it’s okay, that’s life, that’s life”.
“Canopy has taken care of me in many ways – me and my family.”
“Emily was the director at that time, she made sure all of my goals and all of my family’s goals came true. It is a really high [priority] for me as the first born, they say in my community, to finish school and be an example for my siblings. Emily helped me to become familiar with the school system and helped me start at NWAC because it is a little bit easier than the university.
I got my [current] job through Canopy – this internship with Tyson and United Way. Lyna has been a mentor to me, this is one of the first jobs where coworkers have emailed each other, she has helped me with that. I have also been excited to help my fellow refugees to get work – I’ve helped almost three or four people get a job and I am excited for that. Canopy does a good job and they try to be better, week by week. They talk about what goes on in the community, how to improve, and I like that about it.
One of the best jobs I’ve ever had was also through Canopy – at Field Agent. I met a man named Henry Ho – I met him in a Canopy meeting, he sat next to my parents. Joanna had us sit at the same table, we talked and my parents learned that his son went to the U of A for Civil Engineering. We talked and he kind of liked me, so he gave me a job over there. I learned a lot there, I made some mistakes, and Henry was like a mentor to me. He taught me many things about life. He is one of the best men I’ve ever met, to this day. He pushed me to be the man I should be. He was like my best friend.”
Friends from different paths, different places, different countries…
“I have met many new people – many new friends from different paths, different places, different countries, and different origins. I have met many Marshallese friends, many Spanish[-speaking] friends, many American friends, and many people from Africa, too. Here, I like how people live differently or separately, but still have some connection. [I like how] the teachers follow up with their students, they take care of their students, they ask how my siblings are doing.
Since I’m in college, I have met international students from every country. I can do so many things there – I like FIFA, I’m pretty good at it, and I can join those groups there and have autonomy. I have one class left at NWAC and in the Spring I’ll go the U of A. I will have three years left at the U of A to get my Civil Engineering degree.”
Just be yourself
“I would tell people my age coming to the US one thing – just be yourself. There are many people here who want you to be like them. And it’s cool, you learn at first – but just be yourself.”
Heri’s story is one of grief alongside hope and a deep loyalty to family – both those family members immediately related to him, and the many individuals he cares for as family – those whose burdens and joys he shares.
We are so grateful to Heri for sharing his story with us and giving us a small picture of life through his eyes. He has experienced so much at such a young age and brings so much hope and resilience to our community.
Do you enjoy reading stories from our new neighbors?
Sharing these stories and the experiences of Canopy families with your network is a great way to start the conversation about why and how we can work to create a more welcoming environment in NWA.
Responses