People's Power Lab

  By Wilermine Mwakamupya (Student at Sanderson High School in Raleigh, NC) My name is Wilermine Mwakamupya, and I’m 16 years old. I go to Sanderson High School, and I’m a junior. I live with my parents and seven siblings, so there are nine people in our house. We arrived in the United States in January 2019, leaving behind our home country of Burundi, a small nation in East Africa. Before coming here, we lived in a refugee camp for 10 years, which was very difficult. My parents, Mwakamupya Shisho and Beatrice, always wanted us to get an education and have a better life, as life in Burundi was very challenging. Many people in our country struggled to find enough food and a safe place to sleep, and refugees in the camp faced even more challenges. Immigrant groups brought food to the camp every month, but the amount was not enough for many families because most had many children, so the food would run out quickly. My dad worked as a carpenter when we were in Burundi, and my mom had a...

by Sanura Simire* February 2025 Sanura Simire: Thank you for talking with me today. Grandma, can you tell us about your life in Africa before you came to the United States? Salome Baralengelwa: Sure I was born and grew up in a small village in Congo called Bukavu. Life there was simple and easy. We grew our own food and helped each other in the village. Family was really important to us, and we had lots of traditions. But it wasn't always easy. Sometimes, we had droughts, and money was tight. It was also hard to find good schools and doctors. Sanura: That sounds tough. Why did you decide to move to the United States? Salome: Well, my children wanted to have better lives and more chances to go to school and find good jobs. They thought moving to America would help them do that. After talking about it a lot, I decided to go with them, leaving my home and everything I grew up with behind. Sanura: I can imagine that was hard. What was it like when you first got to the United States? Sa...