New Life in America
Paw Hter Lah and his wife, Su Play Lah, lived with their young son in a refugee camp in
Thailand for seven years before they were allowed to come to the
United States in 2005. They are one of many ethnic Karen families who have recently arrived to
Minnesota in a new wave of refugees.
Upon arriving in
America, they lived with Paw’s aunt and her family of five. Paw and Su immediately found that their lack of education and work skills would prevent them from finding stable employment, so they decided to apply for assistance from the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP). This provided them the financial and educational support to begin life in a new country.
Paw and Su then enrolled in Functional Work English classes to build strong enough language skills to be able to find employment. Because they did not drive, Paw and Su rode the city bus and often depended on their friends to give them rides to class. After a couple of months, Paw was ready to turn his focus towards finding employment, and he began to search for jobs. Before he could apply for a job and start working, however, Paw realized that he would have to learn how to drive. Paw’s friends graciously offered to teach him to drive with their car, and after a short time Paw got his drivers license.
Meanwhile, Paw continued to search for employment. He began to get discouraged, until a friend told him about a job opening where he worked. With the help of his Employment Counselor, Paw completed the application, and he was offered employment. The job initially paid $7.90 per hour, but Paw was awarded two pay raises because of his strong work ethic: his current pay is $8.90 per hour.
As a result of hard work and a great support system, Paw and his family now live independently, no longer receive MFIP support, own their own car, and recently welcomed their second child. The adjustment has been fast and many barriers remain, but Paw is happy to be in the
U.S., working to support his family.
HAP is proud to tell their story.