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"She says that because of their words and actions, she was sometimes made to feel less important and felt like she was not allowed to cross certain boundaries."
"They would get up from wherever they were in the middle of the night and step on us. They would get mad because we were there and they’d ask if we wanted to fight them even though we'd been sleeping."
"Then age 10 I was took by force by army to go to war so I'm a child war soldier. I consider myself number one lucky guy because I see so many kids died in the war and the refugee’s camps."
"If I could share any piece of learning that I had from my family’s experience it would be the significance of finding connection, regardless of what community or ethnic group you find connection in, finding connection with other immigrant people."
"It wasn't fun. It wasn't fun simply because when we arrived in America, my brother got sick and we were thrown in this cheap motel full of roaches in New York with prostitutes all over."
"I really like here. I like America, but I still miss China because my family is over there, like my parents, siblings, my friends... they are all in China so I miss China too."
"So when I hear people complaining about undocumented aliens, I ask them, what does that look like? And when I confess to them, they are completely shocked because that’s not what they are talking about."
"I had grown up in Johannesburg in South Africa and in 1985, the country was at the height of the apartheid struggle... the South Africa I grew up in was essentially white colonial South Africa."
"I was amazed by all the people. I’ve never seen people of color other than my own race. You know what I mean, so it was just shocking when I see this, Asians, Whites, whatever… I was stunned."
"It’s just a different feeling to be a tourist and knowing that you are going for a few days or a few weeks and then versus actually moving to the country with the expectation of being there for a couple of years at least."
"And the parks, and the freedom and security you guys have, and that feeling that you can be out late without having to go home with the fear that like, oh no it’s late, you know, people come out, you know."
"But when you come here, very few folks can tell you that Nairobi has 4.4 million people, and they have skyscrapers, and working class jobs, and private schools. We’re not just all a village out there."
"So it was a really really difficult transition to make, because when I saw my parents at the airport, I will never forget it, I didn't know who they were."
"As a teenager I think one of the most important things in the universe is the friends that you have and family may not seem as important at that point."
"You never think that people with those kinds of qualifications can be refugees. But, when the war broke down, it could reach anybody. Refugees can be anybody."
"When I first met my parents I was really happy and excited. I didn’t really know how to say anything to them, so I just hugged them at the orphanage."
"My expectations were actually that America is pretty small compared to say, Russia. So everything would be smaller size and like not so many open spaces."
"The idea was you come here, you stay here for four years, or five years, whatever, and then go back, you know, to your country, and to live there, serve, whatever."
"Everything was just so odd, all the teachers and the principals, ‘welcome to the new school, we are so happy you are here,’ and I was like why do you care so much, you are all so weird."
