Settlement

Hello, my name is Byaombe and it was a long journey for me to get to Canada. I am from Congo. I was 10 years old when I left Congo with my family. We were refugees and went to Tanzania to the refugee camp. I stayed in the refugee camp until I was about 25 years old. I got married in the refugee camp and we started our family. We had the opportunity to move to the refugee camp in Kenya. I had four children. In Kenya, I was working hard to find ways for my children to have a better education because my country did not provide them with that. I did an application and interview to go to the United States. However, they said no to me and my family, so I had to work harder to get accepted into Canada. I applied to Canada, and we got accepted. We traveled to the airport by bus first. Then the van that took us to the airport. My family and I were happy because it was the first time we had been on an airplane.

It was December 4th, 2017. We arrived in Toronto on December 6th, 2017. It was very cold!. When we arrived at the airport, we were greeted by Canadian immigration people who gave us winter coats, winter hats, and gloves. They also gave us some sweaters. My family and I were then put onto a small airplane and transferred to Windsor, Ontario. When we got to Windsor, someone from the Windsor Multicultural Council was there with a minivan and took us to the Quality Inn. After two days, a group of people came from the Multicultural Council. They gave us some money and helped us find housing. The government helped us for 1 year. I studied English. I went to school for 6 months, and then I went to work. I got 3 months of construction training and got a job in construction. However, it was seasonal work, so I looked for another job. I got a job at a farm in Leamington, ON. Last year, I bought a house. My children are getting a good education. We are all very happy in Canada.