Hello my name is Maria. I am from Tanzania. I came to America with my family on July 4th, 2016. I was 12 years old when I came to the USA. I came with my sister and my brother. Where I lived life was quite harsh. In my country, people don’t have a lot of money and don’t own homes. Some people in my country have a lot of money, but do not help other people.

It was really hard for my family and I to come to Buffalo because we didn’t know English and the weather was so cold. I like Buffalo for the many different people and its education. The things I don’t like about Buffalo are lots of people smoking, and lots of people having guns.

The government in my country is different because we don’t have a lot of rights there. For example, the students don’t have food in school. In my country I didn’t feel safe because there were people fighting for the power. In the United States people are safe and they feel safe everywhere. The government in the United States is better because there are more rights.

Maria
Buffalo, NY

Making Buffalo Home is a two-year, in-depth Buffalo Toronto Public Media engagement initiative to inform and raise awareness of immigration for our entire community. The project aims to help the region develop a better understanding of the shared opportunities and challenges we face together as long-time residents and new immigrants and refugees.

Making Buffalo Home is funded by Rich Products Corporation and Rich Family Foundation.