Education, Social Service, Work

Stephanie Falcon’s Work as Told to Thomas Saw Aung

Teaching New Civic Duties

Just three blocks away from the crowded Jackson Heights station lies a small three floored building with three cars parked in front building. After walking through the entrance of the Ecuadorian International Center (EIC), the first room you will see off the right is a large empty square waiting room. Past the waiting room is a hallway with multiple doors on both sides. At the very end the hallway bends at a 45° angle to left and there is a door at this bend. The door leads to a room with a round table and two computers facing each other on a separate table. The two windows in the room provide a moderate amount of light, but the light can barely filter through the blinds.

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Bangladesh/Pakistan, Immigrant Interviews

MD Islam’s Interview as told to Shio Fung Zhu

Country Life

I was born in Bangladesh, in Chandpur in 1993.  I forgot a lot of the stuff, but the stuff I can remember was that it was more like the countryside.  So it was not a city, Bangladesh was mostly country regardless.  It didn’t have pavement; it had dirt roads.  It had like those flea markets that see, those were markets.  Our houses were not really modern; they had those metal roofs, the ones they use in the countryside [not shingles, perhaps similar to the metal roofs of houses in American shanty towns].  Bangladesh was like one of the most impoverished countries –a third world country– so it wasn’t high tech.  Country was totally different; it wasn’t like the city at all.  I also remember building a fucking a boat with tree logs or the like, and it would fucking float [the slang was used to refer to the act of building the boat as being funny; not in the disrespectful sense].  It was a raft; it was not like a canoe or whatever, so a raft would make more sense.

Continue reading MD Islam’s Interview as told to Shio Fung Zhu →

Bangladesh/Pakistan, Parent Immigration Story, Second Generation Immigrants

Natasha Marsub’s Interview… As told to Maria

                                     Natasha Marsub’s Interview                                                                             As told to Maria In 1982, Natasha Marsub’s father got the exciting news of his acceptance into an American college. In the same year he departed Bangladesh and embarked on a journey towards his success, and that of his future family. Luckily, things have worked out but at the expense of being held responsible for the success of other family members. Life in the United States, however, hasn’t been as perfect as many of them envisioned, especially not for Natasha’s family. Continue reading Natasha Marsub’s Interview… As told to Maria →

Caribbean/Jamaica, Immigrant Interviews, Second Generation Immigrants

Trisha’s* Interview as Told by Makeba L. Ross

Years ago, Trisha’s* mother, father, grandmother, aunts and uncles decided to leave their quiet life in St. Georges, Grenada and make the trip to America. Trisha* was not present during her family’s migration- she was born in the United States years later- but was kind enough to sit down and talk with me about her family’s immigration and her life in America.

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