A Fuzhounese Tale

From The Peopling of NYC

I am from a small village outside of Fuzhou. Everybody in the village was poor, my family especially. Sometimes we did not even have enough to eat. I used to go to school, but I had to stop at a young age because I had to work. In my village, if you are born with no money, you will die with no money.

I remember hearing stories in my village of America. Some people in my village left to go to America. They must have paid a lot of money, but then sent money back to the village. They also send their stories of the greatness of America. I then decided that I would leave to.

I came here in 2000. I made a deal with the snakeheads to bring me here. I owe the snakeheads $50,000 which I have to pay off over time plus interest. My journey was 3 months long. We flew to Hong Kong, then the Philippines where we stayed for almost a month. Then we were sent to Brazil and then Mexico. We crossed the mountains with people of other nations. When we finally got to America many of those who I met along the way were no longer with us. I did not bathe in weeks, or eat steady meals. My legs and arms hurt so much from sleeping cramped on the vessel, but I knew I was a lucky one.

They the flew me out to New York City. The snakeheads took me. They were looking for their first payment. I had to find an old friend of my parents from my village. He agreed to help me pay off my debt and gave me a place to stay for a while. He even directed me to a place where I can find a job. I found a job making deliveries where I make 600 dollars a month. I contribute some of it to my parents friend for rent and food. Most of the rest of my money goes to the snakehead’s collectors who come every month. If I don’t pay them I don’t know what will happen to me, so I always make sure I can. I save whatever is left.

A friend from work invited me to his church. I used to go to church in my village. Amazingly I met a lot of people who knew my parents or who knew someone from my village. This made me feel more comfortable. They are very supportive. Because of the friends I made I was able to find a better job. Now I make almost $1000 a month. I moved out of my parents friends house to an apartment which I share with 3 friends from church.

But life is still hard. It seems my debt will never go away and the snakeheads keep coming. Its worse for my friends. Two have a child who they cannot take care of. The baby has to be sent back to China to live with their parents. My friends have to pay $1000 for this. It is even worse when one of us gets sick. We cannot get sick because there is nobody to take care of us except for each other. If we are sick we cannot work. I have to keep working to pay off my debts.

If I stayed in China, I will always be poor and my kids will be poor too. Here I may still be poor, but my kids may not have to be. If they are born here then they can have a brighter life. I heard from a friend that kids can even go to college for free and get free computers here.