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Peter Opa in Vienna, 1995
Imagine a young man who grew up in an Africa village. His parents were comfortable enough to send him to college, but majority of his
village were impoverished. No running water. No clinic. Too many were dying from preventable diseases. Children were going to bed hungry. Mothers were starving. His friends had dropped out of school because of crushing poverty. No library for them to study on their own.
This young man was saddened by the poverty surrounding him and he wanted to do something to help. Traveling through Europe, he came to America to seek a better life, hoping to go back and help his village someday. But this was the America where he knew nobody. Not even an extended family. No brother, sister, uncle, nephew, cousin, or aunt—nobody. He had no information about what is available, or who to talk to. He had no clues where to go. He had no place to stay. He had no money. No food. No cloth, (other than what he was wearing). The only three things he had were hope, faith, and goal. He hoped to make it in America. He had hope in America. And his goal was to go back and change lives in his village.
Well, that young man was me. It is my story. It is my story of compassion and its ripple effect—how helping just one struggling immigrant
in America can help an entire village in Africa.
Like most immigrants, I came to the United States to enjoy freedom and to escape poverty. Having a college degree and good English under my belt, I wanted to explore possibilities in The Land of Opportunity. I was ready and willing to work hard, and to play
by the rules.
However, that was not enough. There were challenges. I was a stranger, and this is a country where people are taught to be afraid of the
stranger. The stranger is dangerous; he’s everything bad. So, who would talk to a stranger like me? How would I survive in a culture more trusting of an insidious authority figure than a stranger?
Besides, I was a computer illiterate in a computer-driven society. Though able to read and write, I had not even the minimal computer
skills. Yet most good jobs required basic information technology. So would I survive? How would I find the money to train for
computer skills?
Yes, I had to start from the scratch. I was ready to do just that. Whether janitorial, security, or floor man position, I was ready to roll
up my sleeves. However, as a new arrival, I needed information. How would know how and where to look for the jobs?
The Compassionate Americans
Fortunately, there are Americans who are not afraid of the stranger, and I was fortunate to have crossed their path. They
became my blessing. They, the compassionate Americans, represented the goodness of humanity. They demonstrated America’s greatness to me. When I was a nervous immigrant with no place to stay, they took me in. When I was lonely, their family became mine. They guided me, and they gave me information that I needed—even before I ever asked. They introduced me to their friends, gave me job leads, and made me comfortable. They gave me food, cloth, water, and everything I needed to stand on my feet.
Thanks to them, I got more education, computer training, and a better job. But for them, I would be working for minimum wage
under the table. But for them, I would have been exploited by predatory employers who only took advantage of undocumented aliens. And because I had a better job, I was able to go back and help my village, Ajara.
These compassionate Americans were a blessing not only to me, but to my entire village. Because they helped me, I, in turn, have
been able to help my village.
The orphans in Ajara are now getting help. School drop-outs are receiving support to finish their education. Four brilliant minds, whose lives would have been wasted by poverty, are now able to go to college. Best of all, plans are on the way to build a resource center for the
people of Ajara. When completed, the resource center will, among other things, provide a clinic that will put an end to preventable death, a library that will provide resources for students, and a computer center to equip young people with basic computer skills. (More info. about this project is here: www.ajaraproject.org) .
Again, all this would have been impossible without the compassion of the Americans who cared for me when I was a stranger
struggling to survive. I would have been unable to change lives in my village if everybody had looked the other way in my hour of need.
Are you afraid of the stranger? Do you turn blind eyes to people in need because you don’t know them? What if you were the last chance for somebody to make it? I hope my story inspires you to open your heart, and to start living a life of compassion.
(This article article is from the presentation given by the author at the Long Beach Unitarian Church on October 19, 2008)
Peter Opa is the Director of the Ajara Project, a project of Rethink Africa, Inc. www.ajaraproject.org
