A journey to freedom

Valentina Oliva

Janiett Tejada

One of the beautiful parts of our Carrollton community is that we have so many people from all over the world. Last week, Alessandra Cicchelli and Valentina Oliva sat down with Janiett Tejada from our maintenance staff to talk about her experience moving to the United States from Nicaragua. 

The following interview has been translated from Spanish. It has been edited and condensed for clarity.

What country did you originally come from, and what inspired your decision to move here?

I was born in Nicaragua, and I made the decision to come to the United States at a young age due to the lack of opportunities and the problematic conflicts that made my country dangerous. The battles being fought in Nicaragua over censored speech, and the exile of successful reformers who longed for change made me lose hope daily, and I knew that I could achieve more for me, and for my young daughter.  Where I came from, people did not have the opportunities to study, and I had heard rumors of the great United States, where anyone could. This is one of the biggest reasons why I decided to immigrate. After having lived in Miami for some time now, I have come to the conclusion that many people are unaware of the conflicts other countries face, which is why I think it is so important to talk about.

How did you find Carrollton? What is your favorite part about working here? 

I found Carrollton through a friend who had already moved to Miami. She helped me get a job working in Founder’s Library, and after a couple months, when she had heard that Carrollton needed more recruits to the maintenance staff, she recommended me for the position. I like everything!

What were your first impressions when you arrived in this country?

Coming from a country where the people were given no freedom, seeing liberty so openly was surprising and hard to believe. After getting my visa, and my citizenship, I just remember feeling so grateful. Something strange that surprised me, on the other hand, was the immense amount of homeless people that lined every street. I had never seen anything like it.

What aspects of your home culture do you miss the most?

I miss my family dearly, but I am grateful that I moved to Miami, a city with so many Latin people, because they all make me feel closer to home and to my culture. Thankfully, there are a lot of people from Nicaragua here, so I don’t get that homesick.

Are there any traditions from your home country that you continue to practice here?

Since I moved to the United States, I’ve kept my country’s culture alive by continuing my family’s traditions and customs. I cook Nicaraguan food like tres leches, churrasaco, and tostones, and I keep celebrating Christmas like I used to celebrate it in Nicaragua. At midnight on Christmas Eve, my daughter and I go to Mass together to begin celebrating Jesus. 

How has your experience of living here changed over time?

When I first came to this country, I was scared that I would never get my citizenship. I knew that getting it would be really hard, if not impossible, and I longed for the day when I could bring my sister to Miami to live with me because I missed her dearly. My biggest fear was that I would never be able to become a citizen. Now, after becoming an American citizen and having a stable job, I try to give back to Nicaragua as much as I possibly can. Every Thanksgiving, I donate money to help support a group of poor kids in Nicaragua, and I plan on doing more in the future.

What do you think are some of the advantages or disadvantages of living in this country compared to your home country?

In my country there was a sense of community that I do not see in the United States. The neighborhoods are very close together and people are friendlier towards each other. The major advantage of living in the United States in my opinion is the opportunities. Education is available to everyone here, and it opens doors to endless possibilities and advantages. The main lesson that living here has taught me is that if you work hard, you can create a life for yourself in the U.S that many people around the world don’t have access to. That for me, along with the freedom of expression and the freedom to vote, are the biggest advantages the United States has to offer.