Coming to America
Most Guyanese come to the U.S. for a better life. The jobs here pay well, and the cost of living is much cheaper. For example, our sneakers that cost $100 in America would cost $20,000 Guyanese dollars! Necessities such as milk and rice are also very expensive in Guyana. Many of us have come to America to be reunited with family members, usually fathers who have paved the way for us to come. Still others come to experience American culture.
What We Left Behind
We left so many family members behind in Guyana, including our mothers, sisters, grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins. We can call them on the phone, but it is very expensive. Without a phone card, it would cost $40-$60 to talk for just 5 minutes. We also left the memories of our childhood. We had a big house with a lot of land and dogs. We left the food that we used to be able to eat. Even our religion is different here. Instead of going to church on Sundays, we now must go to church on Saturdays. We left the closeness that we felt in Guyana, where everybody knows each other. We left the freedom that we used to have. Every transaction here requires so much paperwork, and everybody uses credit cards or checks, not cash like we do in Guyana.
What We Found Here
Some of us found our fathers again. They had been living and working in America for 10 or 11 years, saving money to bring us here. We found a better education and more one-on-one attention than we received in our schools in Guyana. We also found higher expectations than we were used to. We can't get away with half of the things that we were able to before. Because our family sacrificed so much to bring us here, we must work hard to fulfill our responsibilities.
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