Feeling comfortable in one's home

As a citizen of the United States, rarely have I thought about the process and hardships immigrants face when they come to America. I always assumed that they chose to come here and the procedure of coming here was an easy one. After attending the presentation about Migration a few weeks ago I now realize how naïve these thoughts were. The speakers at the lecture about immigration were composed of people that have immigrated here as well as Americans who aid those that leave their country. They shared personal stories about their experiences and the reasons as to why they did come here, which surprising to me, were not always chosen.
The first person who spoke of her own experience of coming to America really opened my eyes. She talked about the abuse she faced in her native country of Ethiopia which forced her to have to leave everything she knew and come to America. I could not believe the things she was put through for simply protesting the government’s wrong-doing. The government in Ethiopia was treating their citizens unfairly and taking away their rights as people. When she protested she was thrown into jail and abused physically, mentally, and sexually. She is such a strong person but you could see the pain when she began talking about the abuse and she began to cry. She had just recently come to America (only 11 months ago) and is still going through the process of recovering from the trauma she faced. She was forced to leave her family, friends, and possessions for a chance to live safely. If it was not for the organization she found, once she came to the United States she would have no foundation or support. There is a chance she could suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, as well as many other disorders. She could be living on the streets without a job or food to eat. After hearing the horrible things she went through I understood why she had to come here. If she wanted to live safely and go on with her life there was no way she could stay in Ethiopia.
The second speaker was a woman from the Philippines. She was a teacher and actually did choose to come here. After hearing her story about how she was so lucky to get picked out of thousands of applicants to come teach in America, I still could not understand how she could just get up and leave her husband and kids behind. I am sure it was an extremely difficult thing for her to do, but still, I would never be able to leave my family behind to go and teach in a foreign country. I’m sure this was a once in a lifetime experience for her but to me, being with family is more important, especially if I had kids.
Finally, the last speaker was a woman from Mexico. She was looking for a better way of life. I always figured this was the most popular reason for people to come to the United States. However, though she seemed happier, I could not help but wonder if she really was. She was a younger woman, and her family was still in Mexico. It really seems like the center she went to when she first came to America really did a lot for her. The importance of the organizations that help people immigrating to the United States really became known to me after seeing this presentation. If this woman did not have help from the organization, she would have had a much harder time getting a fair, safe job.
This lecture was extremely informative and gave me a better understanding of the lives and difficulties faced by those who immigrate to America. These people are strong and extremely brave to get up and leave everything they know; to leave their family, friends and jobs, especially when they do not choose to. Attending this presentation really make me feel lucky to live in the United States with all of my friends, family, and the opportunities that are available.