08/10/2020
[๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐
๐๐๐๐] ๐ฉ๐ญ. ๐๐: ๐๐๐ข๐ง๐๐
We had the privilege to talk to Zainab, an inspiring, kind and thoughtful woman from Vickery Trading Company. Zainab fled her country with her daughter as a refugee in 2008 and worked multiple jobs to support her family. Then, she found out about Vickery Trading Company, where she has found a supportive community of women who helped her gain a better understanding of culture and life in America. We cannot thank Zainab enough for sharing her stories with us! We hope you enjoy this insightful talk as much as we did. ๐
๐ค: ๐๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฉ๐ง๐ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป ๐๐ป๐ด๐น๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐๐น๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ?
A: I learned a lot about the American culture and personality. We thought all the women in America would not get married, have children with different men, didnโt respect relationships or care about anyone. Itโs bad that we had that perspective. Thatโs why my husband and family didnโt want me to come to America because they thought I would leave him and get a boyfriend. I thought children didnโt respect their parents. VTC corrected my information.
Before, I was scared to talk to people from Afghanistan. I thought all these people, they were terrorists. But when I worked with them [at Vickery Trading Company], now all my friends are from Afghanistan! Really, I figured now that culture, the culture from my country and that of other countries are the same! The same, just different in language. I was so surprised. Even when I call my family back in Iraq and I tell them about my friends from Afghanistan, they say โOh my gosh, take care!โ I said โno, no, no!โ I started showing pictures, showing that they are friendly and are normal people. VTC is a small world in which you can learn from others and teach others as well.
Even for the [VTC] volunteers, we correct the information for them. Because they thought all the middle east people didnโt know how to use cars. So, we correct for them and they correct for us. Itโs very, very important. ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐๐
๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐, ๐๐๐๐ ๐
๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ป๐๐๐๐โ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐
๐๐. ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐โ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐.