I could not believe my ears nor comprehend the message that my
boyfriend relayed to me that Sunday afternoon in 2003. I was in my fourth year of college and I was doing my teaching internship. The only other big plans I had at that time were for us to get married. But then he told me his news: he had won the green card lottery! If we followed the process in place we could be traveling from Kenya to the United States in a year!
The news was both exciting and sad. On the positive side, I had heard that the USA was a land of milk and honey, and that the opportunities were limitless. Yet, I could not imagine leaving my parents, my siblings or my friends behind to venture into a territory that was so unfamiliar. And even if we wanted to go, we didn’t have the financial capability of taking care of the required expenses.
t e s t o s t i m o n y 