(Music) The United States is often called the land of immigrants, a place where people from all the world sought new horizons and opportunity.

The story of immigration is often one that conjures up sepia toned photographs and black and white footage of salt of the earth people toiling to provide for themselves and their families.

All the while uncertain of the future, but determined to make their way in a new place and still hold true to the values that made them fearless enough to take an unpredictable path.

But that story is as true today as it was then.

We may be less likely to see it simply because immigrants in our communities and in our lives are so interwoven.

We may not see the thread through the fabric.

I’m Varinh Van Vugt and I live in Austin, Minnesota.

And I know that there is as vibrant a community of determined immigrants across southern Minnesota today as there has ever been.

I am on a mission to seek out others who, like myself, have sought new shores and set down roots to intertwine with Minnesota soil.

As a young girl, I came to the United States as refugees, with my parents fleeing war and unrest in our home country.

Something I have in common with the first person I met on my journey.

Fairy is now moved to Austin, Minnesota.

And it is at her home that our story starts.

So thank you for joining us today.

Really appreciate you inviting us into your home.

Can you tell us a little bit about your childhood?

Yeah, I was born in Thailand refugee camp and grew up there, and I felt safe, but I did not know.

There’s a lot of danger there because my parents were able was able to keep us safe.

So you grew up in the refugee camp?

How did you find your way to the United States?

How did your family?

So starting around,2000.

That’s where a lot of, Karen people, they got accepted to come to the U.S., Australia and other places around the country.

And my parents first applied to Australia, but we didn’t get accepted.

And then they applied for the U.S., and we had to wait a little bit in order for us to go My parents have to go through a ton of interviews for us to go.

So how did that feel when you found out that, the family was coming to the United States?

How, was the family’s reaction and your reaction as well?

I was happy because, like our cousin already here, some of our cousins are already here, and some of our friends, are also in the U.S.

already.

So we were pretty excited to go to America, where we heard a lot of, like, it’s a land of opportunity, a land where you can grow and learn and you can do a lot.

So we were pretty excited.

And for us, it’s a feeling of we’ll be safe.

Now, how was your experience in elementary school?

Learning a new language is not easy.

It’s very hard and and having the teacher being there for us and understanding that, you know, you’re new, you’re learning English.

But I still want you to practice.

Is something that really helped me to learn more English.

And I remember my second year being in the U.S.

there was a new comer, some new comer that speak Karen, and I was able to help them around to say, sure, let’s, little English here and there give and helping them with transportation, helping them with classes.

So I think being able to help other people really push me to learn, English.

And how is that transition?

So you were from Burma or from Thailand to South Carolina and then to Minnesota.

How is that adjustment?

Yes.

After three years, my, parents, they were actually looking at either Amarillo, Texas or, Worthington, Minnesota, and they, went and looked at both places.

And they know that here in, Minnesota, you know, you have, great health care here in Minnesota.

And mama wanted to go back to school and people were like, oh, when you come to Minnesota you can go back to school.

It’s really easy.

So moving to Minnesota, one thing, Worthington, Minnesota.

One thing I remember was I met my first group of friends at church.

We went to First Baptist Church, and I met them there, and we just started talking, and they’re in the same grade as me.

So I feel like, oh, this is nice.

It was, during August.

So before school starts So I’m like, at least I have some friends.

So I, I was very happy to, meet them at that time.

And when school started, I was in sixth grade, and I’ve been friends with those people even till now, which is, really nice for me.

(Piano & Violin Music) Going there.

I remember my parents, got us into music, which my sister started music when she was in Thailand.

So did my brother and we learn about Worthington has great music program where you can be in a band, choir, orchestra.

So my friend I, we decided to try violin and our teacher was very welcome and we were behind other people.

We started at six when other people started, you know, at fourth grade.

So we would, skip our lunch or leave for lunch a little bit early to go practice, playing a violin and it was fun for us because we were together.

(Piano and violin music ending) So education is very important to your family, educating yourself as well as helping other people grow and learn.

So it kind of is, like, made sense for you to go and become a teacher.

Yes.

And when you are working with these young minds and you’re working with students who have a similar story to you, how do you help them and inspire them in your classroom?

So one thing I always tell myself this to be patient with them, although sometimes it is hard because, you know, everyone has expectation, but I remember I told them I have to be patient because my teacher was patient with me when I was learning a new language, and I remember how I learned language is not just reading a book and that’s it.

It’s a lot of movement games.

We play a lot of games so that we are able to learn the language and to have a conversation just even like, how are you or what’s your name, conversation like that to help improve the language.

And I do, work with the newcomer, so it’s always nice to see when they are improving.

It felt rewarding to see that I’m making a change in someone’s life.

I’m helping someone make a change.

So those are always nice.

Education is just so important to you, can you talk a little more about this other adventure that you are going on?

Yes.

So right now I’m getting my master’s in leadership, and my mom have always told us, you know, like, people can take stuff away from you.

But education is one thing that they can’t take it away from you.

And coming to the US having the opportunity to get the education that we need, inspires me to want to get more education.

I know that we are learning everyday, even right now.

As a teacher, I go into my classroom and I’m learning new stuff all the time.

The class I’m taking right now for my masters, it is not only help me just with education, it also help me with the way I carry myself, the way I am learning.

Because we are learning about the brain.

We are learning about how each persons are different, you know?

So it really helped me just building myself up and becoming the person at the best person that I can be.

So besides teaching it, you also have pursued another career.

You’re always learning.

You’re learning new skills and finding new ways to help other people.

Can you talk about that other profession that you have?

Yes.

So another profession that I have is being a massage therapist.

And I did this at first was to help me with my schooling, but then to also help the people around me feel better.

And I went to school and I graduated.

I worked for a chiropractic place and salon in town.

But then, when I student taught, it was hard for me to work with a schedule.

But then I have some people that are like, oh, we still want to come with you.

So I decided to open up a business.

And with that business in mind, I have it so that I can give back to the community.

So that’s my main goal of opening a business in town.

And we will soon open up in Albert Lea.

So I’m pretty excited for that.

It was deeply moving to hear Fairy speak about her passion to bring safety and education to the youth in her community.

Her journey from refugee to educator and entrepreneur, reflects a strong commitment to changing the lives of her neighbors.

Fairy’s passion to build community isn’t isolated.

The next person I met on my journey shared the same ideals.

Whether someone is from across the globe or just across town, the desire to uplift, educate and connect is universal.

I saw this clearly when I met Timonthe back at his alma mater in Austin.

I am Timonthe Noukoumonke and I was born in a family of six.

I was the second.

And I was born in Cotonou, Benin, which is the economic capital of Benin and grew up over there.

We have, different dialects that we speak in Benin.

I speak Fon, I speak Ewe, I speak Gun, and I speak French as well.

When you were in Benin, how was life over there professionally?

Going to school?

In Benin you know, going to school is something, very important to my dad.

He did not have a chance to have, you know, a lot of education.

And he prioritize, education for us.

He made sure that, we have, you know, we go to school, we have, teachers that come home, you know, after school to stick with us for two hours, three hours, we pay them, you know, because he wanted us to be, you know, the better version of him.

He see in me that I have this technical mindset, you know, then he was like, what do you want to do?

And I was like, I want to go to the technical school.

Then right from there is he sent me to the vocational technical school.

You know, from there, when, I graduated, you know, my father, in 1989, we visited Ghana for the first time with my dad, and we see the environment.

We check out the schools.

The technical school in the university.

We checked them.

It was like, okay, if you do well, you promise me that you focus on your study, next year you go to Ghana.

So you move to Ghana, new country all by yourself new language as well.

What were you going to Ghana to study?

I was going to study the plant engineering maintenance.

Plant engineering.

And then I did the fabrication in Benin.

And in Ghana I was going to do the maintenance part of it, mCAD Institute of Technology in Ghana, Accra.

And when did you graduate with your degree?

I finished in 2005.

And after that a man walked up to me that was like, "What do yo do?"

I say this what I did in school and, you know, I’m from Benin, I speak French.

He was like, okay, I have a company that we do a conference, you know, all over with the organization, do you want to be part of that?

And I said yes.

And then I went and he could see that me being in the team, who helped them, you know, being able to communicate with the people.

Setting up the equipment, talking with the interpreters, that’s where I start working, and we are working and we are have a lunch break.

Then I was going to eat and I saw this kiosk.

They put on it, they were doing the lottery visa, saw lottery visa on it.

I just went and asked how much is that?

And that was ten cedi’s.

I think is less than two dollars, or one dollar, in those days.

So you talk about a lottery visa?

Yeah.

It is the diversity visa.

Yeah.

That the US government was, to promote and bring more immigration from countries that have low immigration rates to the United States.

Yes.

Can you tell me about that experience, if you knew that there is this letter waiting for you and you did, you dropped everything and and traveled back to Ghana.

Can you tell us about that experience and how did that feel?

It was a ton of great joy for me.

I could not know how to, express that because.

I’m so close to my mom.

And I promised her.

That I’ll emigrate.

I got to Benin and I call her, and I was like, mom it’s happened, you have a better life.

I’ll be going to the United States.

So it was an opportunity to make a better life for your whole family and it all fell on the shoulders of a young man.

Yeah.

That must have been incredibly exciting.

You were just informed that you were selected for the diversity visa.

But that doesn’t automatically mean you can jump onto a plane the next day and and come.

Can you talk about the process, what it took for you to get to the United States, even though you had already been selected and the paperwork was processing?

Yeah, that is a long process, a long process in terms of that was a lot of money.

We talk about $5,000 to $10,000 US dollars.

Thinking about it because I had to do a background check in Benin, in Togo, in Benin and Ghana.

And in the process of that there was no money.

And my father had to make the big decision.

First he said he is gonna sell his truck.

In Africa when you are in a situation in need of money, you want to sell anything of value.

People come in there and they not by that thing on that value.

So it wasn’t just a pickup truck, it was a a semi truck.

It was a semi truck.

I was like, no, we can go and get a loan from the bank.

The truck can still be working, and we’ll pay it back.

People come in there and they no buy that thing on that value.

I remember I went to Benin and few people come down to price the semi truck.

The amount they would mention, I was kind of pissed off.

And I start talking and my dad was like, no way.

You go back.

We have to this so that we secure what you want.

You have to go.

And so you ended up moving to Austin.

You said that you came to Austin and you realized there was a school here.

Why was that important to you, to have a a school in the community that you were going to relocate to?

School is very important to me because, I really want to, you know, to impact and to touch life and through that, you know, you got to be educated.

Can you talk about your experience, what drove you to decide to become a United States citizen?

Because you have your green card, which is that permanent residency.

So you are already allowed to live and work in the U.S.

Why did you want to take that next step to become a United States citizen?

Because living in the U.S was a great opportunity for me.

But when I came, I first came to Austin.

I felt something within me that this day, this your place, this is the place to be.

You know, I felt, I felt at home.

I followed the law.

I applied for my citizenship.

I got my citizen and I file for my wife, and then my son was born in Ghana.

And before my son will come, I have, applied for my son the US passport because he’s, a US citizen, born outside the U.S.

Can you touch on that moment where you felt like, you were a U.S.

citizen?

You know, what was that first moment that you felt where you felt like, yeah, I am, you know, not just not an immigrant or or someone who has a green card, but I am a U.S.

citizen now.

When we finished the ceremony at St.

Paul, at that moment when I had the U.S.

flag, they’ll give you a little flag.

When I had that little flag that I felt like, yeah, this is home.

I made it and I made it for my family.

And, you know, I have that that deep peace within me.

Tell us about this new endeavor that you are taking on.

And now, as a, what is it and what brought you or inspired you to pursue this new opportunity and take on this new journey?

When I first moved to Austin, because, we have, this West African community in Austin, we don’t have, our food stuff in Austin.

Whenever you need anything fresh from your, from West Africa, you had to go all the way from, Austin to Minneapolis, St.

Paul every weekend or every other weekend.

That’s why I decided to open it.

You know, a West African grocery store.

You saw need in the community and and you cared enough and you wanted to to support the community by That’s my my dream.

That’s my drive.

You know, bring people together because we our community.

Yeah, and Austin is a big community.

That’s where we growing.

Our kids are growing.

They’re all going to school.

We have to mingle.

Community is formed in many ways through shared values, experiences encouraged to work in unfamiliar spaces.

I traveled east to Winona, where I met a man who was doing just that building community in a new land.

After being invited to study from his homeland, he chose to not only learn, but to give back.

His story as a reminder that belonging isn’t just found, it’s created by us.

(Upbeat Music) 3...2...1 (Upbeat Music) My name is Sammy Gondola, and I am the missions and outreach pastor here, pleasant Valley Church in Winona, Minnesota.

June is going to be nine years that, I started in this role and it’s been amazing.

Just a great fit for me.

Love the community, love this church, great people.

Can you share about, how life was in your early years?

Yeah, I was born, in Panama City, Panama.

I’m the youngest of three boys.

I was the baby of the family, and I grew up, climbing coconut trees and mango trees and my parents, Marcelo and Jean Gondola, raised us, with, just a beautiful home.

And they worked really hard to support us.

And my, my older brothers, Santiago and Danielle, we call them Santi and Danny, were amazing brothers to me.

So we played in the streets, played soccer, barefoot.

And, it was just a beautiful and fun and fun, growing up, upbringing that I wouldn’t really change it for anything.

Your journey to America did start when you were in Panama.

Can you share a little bit about how you, that story started?

So in 1996, a bunch of my friends, we went to a conference called explosion continental or, continental explosion, something like that, in Costa Rica.

And we took a bus, went to Costa Rica, and this was, a missions conference for young people.

And and that conference is where I really felt the call to ministry, to missions.

And that year, Youth With a Mission was starting in Panama for the first time.

And a couple a wonderful couple, great friends, Rich and Debbie Tracy from Wisconsin, of all places, moved to Panama with their kids, and they started youth with a mission in Panama.

And in 1998, Rich and Debbie Tracy’s church went to Panama on a short term mission trip, and their pastor, Mike Renninger, took a team from their church.

And I was one of the guys who pick them up at the airport, took them everywhere.

I started to translate for them.

That’s what my early years of trying to translate, and I led the music at the base and everything.

And I will never forget the night when Mike said to me, Sammy if you ever want to come to the States, I will do everything in my power to make that happen.

We need a worship leader at our church, but if you just want to come lead worship at our church, or you just want to come, go to college or just to come visit, the doors are open.

So that was a night that, really changed the course of history for me.

The trajectory of my my life.

I went to to UW Richland to take the test to be able to, show that I’m proficient enough in English.

I got accepted at a four year, student visa to be able to come to UW Richland to go to college.

And I flew back to the States and that’s where everything started.

Can you elaborate more on what were the things that were going through your head?

What did you have to think about before you made that decision to come?

That’s a great question.

Leaving behind my family, my friends, my parents, my brothers, the everything I knew, the culture, to the unknown.

Like what I know about the U.S., about America was just kind of like, what you see in movies or in shows, and, you know, it’s not the same.

But the biggest thing at the end of the day was, Lord, what do you want me to do?

Are you calling me to stay in Panama?

And I will I will stay in Panama forever.

What are you calling me?

Is this something that you are orchestrating here?

That’s when I really realize when it just became clear that it’s like.

No, this is the next thing.

This is what I’m doing.

Go and I will be with you.

And that’s when I took make that big, big leap of faith to come to the U.S.

but it was because of a sense of calling to America and in a way, kind of like a missionary and, to the U.S.

And how did your family react to the news, of you coming to the United States or the decision that you’re making?

We call it, in our faith, being dedicated to God.

And when we were babies, that was like, I’m giving my kids to the service of the Lord.

So they remember that.

And I said, and they were like, we will miss you.

And, it’s going to be hard to see you go, But as we said, when you guys were babies, we dedicated our kids to the Lord.

And, now is the time for you to fly and to continue following Jesus wherever he calls you.

And so they they were very supportive, very, very proud, that one of their sons was able to come and get a college education in the U.S.

So is, was a big deal, but they were very supportive.

Can you describe what it was like, that transition first coming to, the United States?

And where did where did you start off?

Where was your point of entry?

Yeah, my point of entry was, Richland Center, Wisconsin.

It was a small town, beautiful small town in Wisconsin, the heart of Wisconsin, and 500 student college.

And I was one of the international students.

There were students from all over the world.

I was the only Latino, the only, from Latin America there.

And that’s where everything started.

And the big the part of my of me coming was also to help rebuild the worship team at Pastor Mike’s, church.

Right away I started leading worship and putting people together other musicians.

So after college, you became a worship pastor.

Were you the worship pastor there in Richland?

So I led worship too at, Campus Crusade for Christ in UW LaCrosse my whole time there.

Then after college, I’m in Richland Center and I hear somebody or a friend actually told me, hey, you know, that, that church, First Free Church in Onalaska is they’re looking for a worship pastor, and this is right after college.

Like, really like, okay, so I’ve never been a pastor, but I just really felt like, hey, apply, apply for this position.

And, I became the worship pastor at, First Free Church in Onalaska.

Serve there for seven years and, wonderful years.

And that’s when I then had the opportunity to start taking teams, short term teams from that church to Panama.

And that’s when things started to go full circle.

And then going back to my country with Americans to do service in Panama.

And I have a wonderful friend.

His name is Brandon Ziski.

He, was the college pastor here at Pleasant Valley Church where I currently serve.

Then he becomes the senior pastor who’s the the head pastor.

Brandon started pursuing me.

He said, hey, Sammy, I’m the the senior pastor here at Pleasant Valley now, we haven’t been involved in, in missions like short term trips, for, for a long time and with your background with YWAM, with Youth With a Mission in Panama.

And I said, like, I know that you’ve been sending teams.

You took teams to Panama from First Free.

Like, we want to revitalize our mission effort, around the world, but also locally.

So I’m going to create a position.

We want to create a position for you.

So okay, let’s do it.

So in 2016, that journey started here at Pleasant Valley Church in Winona.

So this position was created for you and, to work on outreach within the community as well as overseas.

Can you describe the work that you do as the outreach minister here?

There’s, a lot of different things that we’re involved in our community, habitat for humanity, of course.

We help support them financially, but also every summer, especially, we do some building projects with them and get involved that way.

One of the biggest things is that, a few years ago, some of my friends here, we got together and we said like, hey, let’s let’s look at what is needed in Winona.

What are some of the biggest needs?

What is what are some of the needs that are not being met?

There’s a huge need for foster care and adoption.

So years ago, we started a foster care adoption support group where we get families that adopt and foster care in our community together, parents and their kids, and to be able to talk about things, to be able to support each other.

And that’s been a wonderful ministry, a wonderful outreach that we do in our community.

It’s beautiful how things that we didn’t even think before that could happen started happening.

Even families from our church, even some of the ladies that were a part of that first group that we started doing some research about, how can we help the community better they started fostering kids and then they started adopting.

And we have several families in our church that because of that, bringing that to the forefront in our church to be able to adopt and foster kids and adopt and, and bring them into their family.

It’s kind of goes full circle that it’s like, okay, I, I left my home, left my family, but I’m thankful that I’m able to be a part of a, of a group of people that, is helping to reunite and create new families and reunite kids with, and have a family.

Having spent a little bit of time in foster care myself when I was really young, it’s just very, you know, it’s just inspirational for me to hear that.

And I’m very grateful for all the families and and the groups that have gotten to support, those individuals in need.

What is it about the work that you do right now that continues to drive that passion?

Ephesians 210 says, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.

And that drives me.

He’s just being that, knowing that I’m created, that we’re all created to do good, to do good works to help our neighbor.

And, everything is summed up.

Jesus said, in love your God with all your heart.

But it doesn’t end there.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

So that’s what drives me.

And that’s why, I love what I do, and being a part of this amazing church that is, is all about that.

It’s all about loving God and loving people.

Yeah.

Sammy inspired me with his humility and gratitude.

Service is a strong part of who he is, and that could be said of the next gentleman I met just a short way up the hill.

Public service has been a lifelong drive as the chief of police of Saint Charles.

I was born and raised in the city of Manta, Ecuador.

Manta is a coastal city, so I used to live maybe ten 15 minute walk from the beach.

You can see the ocean from my parents, old place.

It was just a lot of fun.

We’ve been talking about how this is where your journey in the United States started, but it actually started back in Ecuador when your parents told you that you were coming here.

When you were first told that you were moving to the United States, did you imagine that this would be where it would start?

This is where it all began.

Very nostalgic.

My goodness.

It’s nice to be back.

Brings back some, great, great memories.

Yeah, we lived here.

At one point, it was, my grandparents, my parents, my brother and I living here.

And, there’s a two bedroom in there.

So, we used to have, you know, Christmas Eve celebrations in here, and in the summer, we’ll have everybody grilling out, out here in the front yard All of our friends are where they were very welcoming.

They always wanted to come visit and go, you know, slide out there up in the hills over there.

During the summer, you know, we had the Mississippi River right across highway 61 there.

So during the summer we used to just go across the highway there, across the tracks.

And we just spent all afternoon, you know, fishing and just hanging out a little beach back there.

It was just great times.

Yeah.

It was it was fun.

Jose had already traveled halfway around the world, but his journey was far from over and neither was mine.

Now in Saint Charles, more than just the scenery has changed.

So has Jose’s title.

He now serves as the Chief of Police, a role of great responsibility and deep impact, tracing the steps of a journey shaped by resilience, service and the pursuit of a lifelong dream.

Can you tell a little bit of like, you know, how you learned about, moving here to the United States?

So how it all went down, my aunt, Letty, she came here as an international student to Winona, got married here.

She petitioned, my grandparents for a permanent residency, card.

They got it.

And then they petitioned my parents, for a green card.

So we acted on it, made a decision, and then we moved here.

Obviously it was, for me personally, it was, it was difficult, you know, new place, new culture, new language, new weather.

I went from, you know, 80, 90 degrees, year round weather to below zero temperatures.

Can you talk about being an English language learner when you first came to the United States, and how was that experience and what tools did you use to strengthen your English skills?

Yeah.

So I think the, probably the most important tool for me to learn the English language was music.

My older brother and I, we didn’t go to, daycare.

We went to grandma and grandpa, so we used to go there.

We used to sneak into my uncle’s, bedroom, and he’ll have the, the LP, you know, players.

And we found his LP collection, and he’s got, like, Iron Maiden, and KISS, Guns N Roses and all this rock band.

And it was so cool.

And I still remember opening those LPs and just looking at them.

And then it just from there it’s just, I got hooked into music and you know, once the CD’s came out, you know, I had, you know, oh, pretty much all KISS albums, you know, the Offspring, you know, Metallica and, the CDs came with a little pamphlet, you know, a little booklet.

And I always look forward to putting those out and look at the pictures and mainly just looking at the at the lyrics.

And that’s when I realized, like, man, I was singing this song wrong.

Like, completely like singing whatever, you know?

But that’s how I got to learn it, really.

You know, I paying attention to that and finding out what what those words meant.

When you first came to the United States, sort of, you know, you talked about wanting to get into business, and then you made the decision to switch over to law enforcement.

I was going to get my college degree and in business because I went, my first college degree was in sales and retail management.

So my plan was to get my degree and maybe go back home, to maybe run my own business or work for a company.

You know, something like that.

My decision to stay here was made when I realized that I wanted to be a cop.

I went on my first ride along this was probably, yeah, back in 2008, somewhere in there.

And then that’s when I got hooked.

I’m like, this is, this is what I want to do.

Make a career transition and and pursue a career in law enforcement.

And, you know, moved on.

That’s made a decision that I was going to be a contributing member to this community and this society.

So here we are.

I’ve been living in the United States longer than I lived in Ecuador now.

When you made the decision to become a police officer, you had some experience, and service in the United States military.

Can you talk a little bit about your service?

And, did that happen before you became a police officer, or was that, you know, sort of an inspiration to becoming a police officer?

Yeah, that that decision came, like, right in the middle, actually, when I was going to college in Winona it was right in the middle of the Iraq Afghanistan war.

And I remember in the cafeteria area, the big screen TV was always on and the news was always on and I remember watching, you know, when the big statue of Saddam Hussein came down.

So that sparked my interest about joining the military.

I didn’t know how to do it, but it was there, and I was like, that was like my, okay, I, I should I should probably do it.

I should probably do it before I’m too old to join or something.

And then later on regret it.

And it was, another opportunity to give back to this country right?

Another opportunity for me to say thank you.

So I decided to go with, with the Air Force.

So I went to basic training and that the summer of, 2011, did all my, my tech school training, I decided to go in as a security forces member.

So that would be military police.

I graduated from, basic training, tech school.

It was 2012 when I was assigned to the Nine 34th Airlift Wing, the security forces squadron up in the, Minneapolis Saint Paul area service station.

I served in the Air Force Reserve for ten years.

I got the opportunity to lead troops, through two deployments.

I deployed twice to Kuwait.

Once, my first one was in 2015 to 2016, and then my last one was in 2019 to 2020.

Through the military, I got the opportunity to go to South Korea.

I never in my life thought I was gonna ever going to travel to a different, you know, country other than the United States.

And I also got the opportunity the really cool opportunity that I never in my life thought I was going to be able to do is, guard the Air Force One.

So the president’s airplane, not only once but twice.

So the first one was when he was visiting, in Minneapolis and another time and when he visited in Rochester.

The military was the great experience.

I would do it again, if I could, but I got to serve with, with the best leaders that are out there.

In fact, I think the military was something that played a big role in to finally, you know, eventually making a decision of, becoming the chief of police, here in Saint Charles.

The focus on community and the desire to serve, no matter where Jose was, started early and had us rewinding his story in the town of Pickwick, where he was reacquainted with an old colleague.

And we sat down again to learn about his earliest public service, that of the fire department.

So you were a volunteer firefighter in Ecuador, and then you moved to the United States.

You were here outside of Winona.

Did you actively go out and seek being part of another fire station here in the US?

Yeah.

So when I was still in high school, about to graduate from high school, I became a volunteer firefighter in Manta in my hometown in Ecuador.

But I was 17 years old when I joined, with my friends from high school and so officially, I joined the Pickwick Fire Department when I permanently moved to the United States, so in 2002.

I had met, you know, Chief Zimmerman and and some of the rest of the fire crew here, and, they just, you know, welcomed me with arms wide open and brought me in, trained me, and like you said, great mentors.

Chief Zimmerman always been mentor to me and all the other guys that I used to serve with here and basically the Pickwick fire Department was my start of my career in public safety really.

That’s how I got exposed to working with law enforcement.

I had, you know, traffic accidents or medical stuff like that.

So that’s how I exposed to that.

And that’s what I’m doing now.

It’s fascinating that so many people from different corners of the world have found their way to southeastern Minnesota.

What is it that draws so many here?

Inspires us to stay?

To contribute and to uplift the communities who welcomed us.

I wear that immigrant badge with with honor.

I will always be an immigrant.

I am proud to be an immigrant because, being an immigrant is not just someone, oh, you come to a country, and you live in a country.

It’s someone who wants to pursue a dream of being able to one day help the people around them.

It’s great to be together worshiping the Lord.

I think at the end of the day, most, immigrants, refugees, newcomers, what we want is to not be labeled as the other.

Being an immigrant, it’s difficult, difficult to adapt to a new environment, new culture, new language.

Coming to the U.S.

you are leaving your family behind, you are leaving something that you know for such a long time behind.

We need to show, some compassion for the people that, like me, that are maybe looking for better opportunities, better education, more stability.

It’s just like, I just want to be a part of this community.

I want to, I want to contribute to the society, to this community, to work hard.

The Bible is full of scriptures that call us to be welcoming to the foreigners, to strangers, to to aliens.

In Leviticus 19 verse 33 says, when a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them, must be treated as your native born.

Love them as yourself.

I do feel like I belong because I feel like U.S.

is very diverse now, and which is so nice because you are able to see the people like you are different people, and just know that we, all of us are human.

We just had different skin color and sometimes our experience are not the same.

But everyone belongs here.

(Orchestral Music) I get that question all the time.

Why Minnesota?

You know when I could have gone somewhere warmer.

Austin is kind of, is a place, the place is quite, calm, small place.

And most important, you can raise your kid here in Austin.

Austin is a perfect place to be to me.

Nearby you, everything is here.

They can go to college here, they can go to school over there.

You have the your eyes on them.

You know, that is very, very important to me.

Winona I really believe Winona, Minnesota is one of the one of those hidden gems in Minnesota.

Maybe it’s not well known.

People don’t know much about Winona.

Then you have Lake Winona, the two lakes.

There’s the town, and then the mighty Mississippi River.

If you go around town, you’ll see the people that you know they are very welcoming.

They’ll say hi to you and they’ll chit chat a little bit.

And I will say it’s the environment that I live in that makes us stay here.

Becoming a US citizen, for me, I see it was kind of like kind of like being in foster care, you know, you’re a part of the family, but you’re not official.

You’re not.

You haven’t been adopted.

So when I took that oath for the first time and pledge, pledge allegiance to the United States I’m being adopted into the family now, like I’m official, like I have the name of the family, that that’s what it meant for me.

I was so very excited.

And I remember we had to ask off for school.

So I went to teacher and be like, I’m getting my citizenship.

I was so excited.

And the teacher, they were congratulating me.

They were as happy as I am.

So that it was a felt of joy.

I get chills sometimes, you know, thinking about, that day I became a citizen.

I got sworn in and recited the Pledge of Allegiance, in Saint Paul.

I’ll never forget that day.

You know, because being a citizen of a great nation like U.S., is not something that you can just get up and buy.

No.

It’s, it’s, it’s a great gift.

To me the American dream is, it’s a lot of things.

I am living the American dream right now.

My idea of, American dream is what you have achieved, how many people you can impact, how many people around you that you that you can impact.

That is my my dream has my drive, you know, bring people together because we are our community.

For me, the American dream is, you know, like first, you know, getting the education that we want to be successful.

And then another one is feeling safe.

I living in a free society, I feel safe.

I have a good job.

I got a good education.

I got my family.

I know my family is safe.

And just the American dream is just continues, evolving.You know.

I would say my biggest success per se, is to have a solid family, to have a loving family, a wonderful, amazing, beautiful wife and amazing kids.

We love each other, that we support each other.

To have a great family that’s the biggest success that I could ever ask for.

And then after that, everything trickles down.

Everything flows from that.

Me success is not surrounding upon the money you have in your accounts.

No, all things you have, but what you have within you, what somebody cannot take from you.

I feel like, you know, for me, success is when I am able to help the people that is less fortunate.

For another, success is for the people to hear my story, to also know that, here’s a story.

If she can do it, I can do it too.

So if one could see that and have that value of, you know, I can be successful too then that is my definition of success.

You know, my parents are safe, they’re living a good life.

They have a good job.

They own their house now.

My brothers, they’re all doing great, have their own careers.

So yeah, I think I think we made it.

For native born Americans that might be listening to, watching this, this show, just encourage you to extend a helping hand to immigrants, to to newcomers, to refugees that are trying to make it.

And they need your help.

They need, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the for the help of other Americans that they welcomed me in, loved me, accepted me, valued me.

Go reach out for your dream.

Try your best in everything that you do, and always remember that each person’s story is very different.

So get to learn them, get to know them, and just hear about their story, because their story may touch you.

So remember to always surround yourself with people that will want you to be the better version of yourself, to want you to help the people around them.

Just like I tell my, students, the ESL classroom, you know, if I can do it, they can do it.

You know, you just got to, just gotta work hard, he determined.

And just persevere and never give up, you know, chasing your dreams.

We got to be the next mentors for all the incoming immigrants who, We gotta be the mentors.

We gotta be the leaders.

And, let them know that if we could do it, they can do it as well.

Southern Minnesota is the place I now call home.

I’ve learned that building a life here is about far more than simply settling in.

It’s about showing up with purpose.

It’s about bringing dedication to others, honoring the culture you carry, and serving the place you now call home.

Each from a different corner of the world.

Each now woven into the fabric of southern Minnesota.

They came for opportunity, for family, for freedom.

And in doing so, they’ve done the most ordinary things in the most extraordinary ways.

They’ve become neighbors, co-workers, parishioners, and above all, proud immigrants.