Addy Birungi arrived in the United States in 2000 without money, job prospects, a place to live, or, most painfully, without her seven children. She had left Uganda, where, she laments, “My life had problems…There were political problems.” However, even after such a dramatic change in environment, life in the U.S. posed its own difficulties. “At first, it was very, very hard,” Addy explains, “especially without my children. I didn’t know how they were doing. I used to cry a lot. It was so hard to cope. After suffering so much, I was wondering, ‘Who am I?’”
Doreen Karungi, her oldest daughter, recalls the period of time after her mother left. “Life wasn’t that good. I went to school, I went to work, and I took care of my brothers and sisters. No one really had anything to do with us.”
Back in the U.S., Addy was granted asylum status and was referred to the IRC in Los Angeles, where she enrolled in the Early Employment Program. “[When I arrived in the U.S.,] I really had nothing. I had no income.” Her voice brightens as she describes how the IRC assisted her. “IRC helped me so much. They helped me financially. They helped me find food, a place to live. They helped me get a job, and they helped with transportation. I was even given a calling card so I could call my children! They would also visit me to make sure I was doing well. They would say, ‘Tell me what you need.’”
The IRC also assisted her with filing Refugee/Asylee petitions for her children. “It was so complicated, but they would just tell me what to do,” Addy explains. In February 2006, all seven of her children landed in the U.S. as derivative asylees, a status granted to children and spouses of those who have received asylum. Remembering the moment when she was reunited with her children after not having seen them in six years, Addy shares, “I thought, ‘Oh, wow!’ I don’t know how to describe it. I couldn’t believe my children had grown up all at once!” Doreen laughs fondly as she recalls seeing her mother that day. “I thought I would never see her again. I was really so excited. I was so happy.”
Doreen says that, although the transition to American culture was difficult at times, life was better than in Uganda. “People were here to help us. The IRC encouraged us to go to school. [In Uganda,] we weren’t encouraged to go to school. We were too busy to focus on it.” Addy boasts about Doreen’s schoolwork, “She was very good in her classes!”
After Doreen graduated from college, she traveled to Kenya, where she met her husband-to-be. Her husband has not yet been able to move to the U.S., but he is scheduled for a Visa interview on August 1. Doreen remains optimistic, “Hopefully it all works out well!”
Today, Addy and Doreen are both comfortable and adjusted to life in the United States. Doreen now has a seven month old daughter of her own. After applying for citizenship in February of this year, they both officially became U.S. citizens on June 30th. “People said they’d never seen people get their citizenship so quickly before!” exclaims Addy. “I’m so happy and so, so grateful to all the people who work at the IRC. They act like they’ve known you for so long even if they’ve just met you. I don’t know what I would have done without them. I’m just so grateful.”
