Immigration is by no means just a simple movement from one country to another. Often times, it involves leaving behind everything and everyone you know. The reasons for immigration are just complex as the actual issue of immigration, with motives ranging from chasing success to escaping political unrest and danger. For my parents, success and safety were just some of the reasons to continue moving around the world, until they eventually reached the United States. My parents only met when they were in the United States, so they both have their own immigration stories. My mother, story is centered on a journey to find the best possible job and lifestyle for her and future family, while my dad’s decision to move to the United States was more for his own safety than anything.
My mother’s journey starts in her home state of Kerala, a tropical state located on the southwest tip of India, in a small town named Avoli. After finishing her primary and secondary education, my mother went on to major in nursing at the Holy Family School of Nursing, a catholic nursing school. Once she had completed her studies, my mother immediately went north to Delhi to secure a well paying job at Genga Ram Hospital. Within her first few months there, she ended up hearing about an even better position in Jordan. After which she immediately applied for a work visa to go to Jordan. The application process took approximately 3 months and she was accepted on her first attempt.
Soon after returning home for a short while, my mother once again left home and went to Jordan to work in a university hospital there. She would end up spending a total time of 3 years in Jordan working as nurse in the university hospital. During her second year there, a few fellow nurses returned from working in the United States and told the other nurses, my mother included, about their amazing time in America. This is was the main impetus in my mother’s decision to come to America; however, the route to that great lifestyle was much longer and harder than she expected. In order to just apply for a work permit, not even a work visa, my mother had to take a special competency test for foreign nurses. After earning her work permit, my mother left for the United States from Jordan.
My mother entered the United States with a job as a nurse’s apprentice at Mount Vernon Hospital. The position as nurse’s apprentice was more of a formality, until she took and passed her licensing exam. The job entailed following and performing duties alongside a fully licensed registered nurse (RN). My mother did that for 6 months and then took her licensing exam. The results took about 2-3 months to process and after which she found that she passed and was now a full RN. Upon discovering that she had passed, my mother proceeded to go do to the American Embassy and apply for her permanent residency card. Thanks to a special grant for professionals, my mother was able to get her permanent residency card in approximately 3 months.
My father story is similar to that of my mother’s; however, my father’s story contains a slight bit of political unrest/danger. My dad was also born in Kerala and grew up in a town called Oonnukal. After finishing his primary and secondary education at Little Flower High School, my father went on to earn his pre-degree from Muvattupuzha College. He then went to Kothmanglam College to major in Accounting. While earning his degree, my father worked two jobs: one as a private tutor for his own tutoring company in Nellimattom and the other as a sales rep for a shutter company. After earning his degree, my father opened 2 businesses: a textiles shop and a sandal shop. The sandal shop worked out so well that he ended up expanding the business to eventually become a wholesale supplier for various other shops all around the state. He continued managing the company while also completing his graduate degree in accounting.
During his graduate program, my father was given the opportunity to work as a high school teacher in Kenya. He accepts the offer and gives the company to his father, who manages the company but then later sells it. While in teaching in Kenya, my father also ends up taking classes at Kenyata University in Nairobi. A short while after, my father gets notice of an opening for a vice-headmaster at a different high school. He is accepted for the position and begins working there. During the school’s summer vacation, my father ends up accompanying his friend while he delivers an expensive package from Mombasa to Uganda. While in Uganda, my dad meets his friend’s boss and ends up getting a job as an accountant there. The company was more along the lines of giant conglomeration. They were dealing in mining, glass making, construction, etc.. After working for a year in their main building, he is sent to work as one of the managers of a regional branch. While working there, the company gets a 10 million dollar grant from the World Development Organization. This provided the company with more than enough money to open up a new sawmill and iron mine. The sawmill used imported English technology and exported large amounts of mahogany and ebony. The iron mine was run almost exclusively using technology imported from Calcutta. Both projects also attracted a lot of European engineers. In addition that, the company also opened up its own private banking business. Ultimately this ends up creating nearly 1000 jobs. Although it may appear as if things were looking up, Uganda was actually in a state of conflict. This internal strife eventually even reached my father. My father’s building was apparently robbed and he was taken hostage at gunpoint. The robbers eventually hijacked his car and left him in the forest to die. Somehow he managed to escape and was able to reach the American Embassy in Uganda. He managed to secure himself a visa to the United States. When he came over he was able to get a job as an accountant with the United Bronx Parents Inc.
My parents actually met while in the United States, during the first year my mother was here. They got engaged after my mother got the results of her licensing exam and applied for a permanent residency card. They went back to India for the marriage, and returned to the United States about a month later. While here they lived first on Dyckman Street, close to the border of the Bronx and Manhattan. Once my mother found out she was pregnant with my older sister, Jasmine, my parents moved to Mount Vernon in order to be closer to my mother’s work. A few months before Jasmine’s birth, my grandma flew over from India, in order to help my mother manage housework, child rearing and hospital work. 6 months after Jasmine’s birth, my parents moved once again this time to our present home in Thornwood. Both my younger sister and I were born and raised in that house.
