Posts Tagged ‘Memphis’

Growing up in Pakistan, Saima never went to school. Her family did not have internet access, so she spent her days cooking alongside her mom, preparing dishes ranging from the Afghan classic bolani to the Pakistani biryani.

Over time, she began to try different recipes that were less familiar to her and her culture—ice cream, fish sticks and lasagna. Cooking passed the time as they waited to be relocated to the U.S. after having fled terrorism in their home country of Afghanistan.

Yet when she came to the United States in 2016 with her mother, brother and sister, Saima saw a window of opportunity that had not previously been there when she discovered YouTube for the first time.

“She watches a lot of YouTube videos, and she saw that everybody posts their cooking videos, and she said ‘Why shouldn’t I?’” said her sister, who interpreted for Saima. “She loves cooking, so she posts her videos, and, hopefully, if her videos get monetized, she could earn from YouTube too.”

In their home country, Saima and her sister would never have dreamed of this possibility.

“When we moved here, I can’t imagine—back in my country I couldn’t work because it’s very hard for girls to work over there,” her sister said. “But here, I went to college; I work over here; Saima works over here. It’s much better, and of course there’s no terrorism.”

With these new doors opening, both sisters saw new futures for themselves—one in the medical field, and Saima in communications. While her sister worked and went to school, Saima worked as well, but she also taught herself everything she needed to know for her cooking channel with the help of her brother, who first introduced her to video editing.

“Now, she does it herself. She just goes into the system and finds new things,” her sister said. “There are a lot of things I don’t know how to do, but she does. She’s creative, very, very creative. I don’t know much about computers, but she does, even though she’s never been to school.”

If you look on Saima’s Kitchen World today, you’ll find dozens of videos that reflect her and her family’s story: their flight from Afghanistan, the wait in Pakistan and finally their arrival in Memphis. Despite having only tried pizza in the U.S., Saima is sure to pay homage to her adopted home with recipes such as club sandwiches.

One day, she hopes to take her cooking to the next level with paid sponsorships and eventually a cookbook after learning English and studying communications. With the help of her family, this new dream seems closer than ever.

“We get things ready for her, and she cooks it on the weekends. The other days, when she comes back from work at night time, she’ll do editing and stuff. The next week she’ll upload the video on the same weekend that she makes a new recipe,” her sister explained for Saima. “It’s very hard and time consuming. It is nonstop.”

It may be time-consuming, but it’s a labor of love that Saima is happy to continue. While waiting for her debut as a cookbook author, you can find her mastering recipes for family and friends, both American and immigrant alike.

If you want to travel around the world through cooking like Saima has done, join us this month for #Passport901 in celebration of Immigrant Heritage Month! Each week we’ll post a new recipe to try, starting with Saima’s, and by cooking it you could be entered for a chance to win a prize in partnership with Choose901. Simply post the end result to your social media account, tagging us in it and using #Passport901. The winner will be announced at the end of the month.

If you don’t have time to whip up a recipe amidst the summer holidays, fill out a volunteer application to see how else you can get involved.

On September 28, 2016, Alphonse and his sister were welcomed to the United States by World Relief Memphis staff and volunteers eager to help. Just a few months later, the number of refugees to be admitted to the United States was drastically cut.  

In the span of a few months, people’s hopes and dreams of rebuilding a life in the U.S., safe from harm, were dashed. Alphonse, however, was one of the lucky ones. 

“I thought ‘Wow’ because I know most people always dream to come to the US,” said Alphonse, 24. “I just realized that I’m one of the lucky ones, and I’m here.” 

Alphonse was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but, at only two months old, he went to a refugee camp in Tanzania with his father. When his father died, he returned to the DRC, but the situation had not improved, and he moved to a new camp in Malawi with his sister. 

“There were still robbers coming to break down the house, still the same thing happening with people getting killed,” Alphonse explained. “It was really hard, so my mom decided to tell me to move to the refugee camp in Malawi with my sister.” 

For the next thirteen years, he and his sister waited for news of their visa. As time passed, Alphonse dreamed of America—Los Angeles, New York, Chicago—but he never expected Memphis. When they were told they were moving here, the dream began to solidify into reality as he researched his new home.  

From day one, Alphonse began learning how to navigate his new life. However, he was never alone as he might have imagined before. Instead, he had a family of volunteers, World Relief Memphis staff and fellow immigrants there to help him. 

“World relief was one of the organizations that helped me make more friends with volunteers,” Alphonse said. “They drove me around, took me out, [encouraged me to] try and move forward, and start looking for jobs. I found my first job.” 

With their help, Alphonse began to wade through the culture shock of a new country and language to become an entrepreneur and leader in his own community.  

“When somebody leaves their stuff to come help you out, it’s really showing love, because not everybody can do that,” said Alphonse, referring to World Relief Memphis and his team of volunteers. “To see that passion of helping people out, why not support that? You want to see the world as a beautiful place; it is something that you want to put yourself and get into.” 

With that thought in mind, Alphonse is doing everything in his power to take care of his community, in particular the youth and the elderly, through his cleaning business and job readiness trainings.  

“It’s hard for them because most of them are old, and learning English is not easy for them,” said Alphonse, who would like to run the program in partnership with World Relief Memphis. “I started having the idea that once they first arrive in the United States, showing them how to do things like ‘This is where you have to put your name, your address, your phone number, etc.’” 

From there, his hope is that they would then find employment within the city, or perhaps even in his own entrepreneurial endeavors. When not pursuing his degree in Computer Information Systems or working, Alphonse can be found working on his own business cleaning and disinfecting offices. 

“We have other people in the community where—they have disability problems where they cant work. Some of them they just feel like they need something simple,” Alphonse said. “I started thinking about coming up with something that might make them feel like they’re doing something, even if it is that little. They know that they have something that gives them a little source of income to support themselves beside having assistance from the government.” 

As his business grows, he plans to begin hiring within his community. Yet for the moment, he is focusing on his studies despite the challenges that arrive, such as a pandemic, so that he can in turn focus on his family. 

“Life is surprising me every day. It’s getting more surprising every day,” Alphonse said with a chuckle. “I really want to work hard. I want to change my family story. I want to see myself doing something different.” 

Coming from a family of doctors and nurses, Alphonse still plans on helping others and giving back to the community, but not in the way that they would expect because of his chosen career field in technology.  

“I know technology is one thing back home people still struggle with, so even when I go back I can still be that person [who] bring[s] new changes in the community, in the village, in the society, where people can start knowing things,” Alphonse said. 

When he arrived nearly five years ago, he had never dreamed of this new possibility. At the time, his dream was simply to come to the United States. Looking back, Alphonse knows it wasn’t fate or a coincidence, but rather God’s perfect timing.  

“I can say everything that has happened to me is God’s hand upon my life,” Alphonse said. “God is really doing amazing things. I can say to start a business and do school while working, it’s not like I’m controlling it. God is helping me every day to keep going, pushing.” 

Perhaps one day soon, Alphonse will be helping other refugees realize similar dreams as they begin to arrive in the United States under the increased refugee ceiling. For now, he’ll continue forging ahead to achieve his own and pave the path for others that come after him. 

“People just have to keep trying because sometimes, life gives us a different picture than what we think life looks like. But at the end of the day, whatever comes your way, it’s for your own sake and it’s going to be better—somehow, some way,” Alphonse said. “It’s just good to keep trying. That’s how I always do.” 

If you want to be a part in helping refugees and immigrants such as Alphonse rebuild their lives and achieve their dreams here in the United States, head to our ReBuild page to see just how you can do so.  

To Alphonse, we are so thankful that we were able to be a part of your journey as you arrived in the U.S., and we are incredibly proud of all that you have done. We cannot wait to see what the future holds.