Stage 3
Catherina: I arrived in the United States, World Relief was waiting for me and that made me feel so welcomed and safe. However, it was not an easy change for my daughter and me. I remember in the American Cultural Orientation I had in Costa Rica, I was told I would live in a house with a garden and with the traditional American infrastructure. Somehow, that idea was helping me to heal my wound of losing everything in Venezuela.
However, when the caseworker opened the doors of the apartment where I would live, it turned out to be a very modest place. Well, I did not react well. I just hadn't healed at that time. I feel bad for my caseworker because she was so polite and sweet while I was threatening her with sleeping outside in protest until they give me another place. Nobody teaches you how to handle your emotions sufficiently, but I'm so grateful for World Relief's help and patience with me. There is a lot to do when you come here, and if it wasn't for their help, what would I have done? At this point, I realized I was lagging behind in dealing with the situation I was in.
Today, I not only have to heal from my past to embrace a better future, but also have to speed up the process of learning to speak a different language. I need to keep working on things don't want to so that one day I can recover the life I had in my country without having to leave ever again.
