From Ethiopia to Beaverton, man and family travel far to catch American Dream

The immigrants are working to bring family members here as well

By Kristen Forbes

The Times, Nov 12, 2009 (1 Reader comment)

Kristen Forbes / For Times Newspapers

After immigrating to Oregon from Ethiopia, Dejene Regasa then helped many members of his family do the same.

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In 1995, Dejene Regasa and his wife Engo made the trip from Addas Ababa, Ethiopia, to the United States after taking part in the U.S. Department of State’s Diversity Immigrant Visa Lottery.

After filling out an application, a computer randomly selected them to be among the 50,000 to receive a diversity visa that year. After a 15-month paperwork process, they boarded several planes and eventually landed in Washington, D.C.

“The funny thing is, we wanted to come to Washington – Seattle,” recalls Dejene. “But when we got our ticket, we didn’t know Washington – Seattle. Back home, not that much is known about it. Washington, D.C., is more popular. So on accident, we landed there.”

Engo’s sister knew a friend who came and picked the couple up, and they stayed for about a week until they were able to get Amtrak tickets across the country. During the five-day, four-night train ride, Dejene and Engo began to notice the differences between the culture they had just left and the culture where they had arrived.

“At that time, we didn’t speak fluent English and couldn’t communicate with other people,” Dejene says. “Food-wise on the station, there were sandwiches and other foods we’re not familiar with. How to order it, all of those things – we didn’t know. Finally, after five days, we arrived here with our family. That’s how we started our life here in Oregon.”

They both looked for jobs, and his wife started as a kitchen helper at a nursing home.

“I got a job at 7-Eleven on the nighttime shift and had a bad experience with that,” says Dejene. “I was working there and one time these kids came and wanted to take a pack of cigarettes. They sprayed pepper spray in my eyes. Just for a pack of cigarettes.”

The couple took certified nursing assistant classes to train to work in nursing homes. They worked at four or five different places together. Dejene also did airport shuttle service and worked as a taxi driver.

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