My life in America
We are thrilled to highlight the talent of Michigan Refugee Youth for this month of June as we prepare to celebrate World Refugee Day on June 20th. Below is a story we want to feature written by Prajeeta Mangar on her journey moving to the United States.
My Life in America
Prajeeta Mangar
Hello, my name is Prajeeta Mangar, I am a Nepali refugee, and my mom and dad are Bhutanese refugees. My parents lived in the Nepali camps for most of their time in Nepal. We came to America because life was not the easiest in Nepal, so they wanted a new start.
My mom moved to Nepal from Bhutan when she was 2 (1992) and then had to leave again, it may have been a bit hard leaving for the second time, but she knew it was the best for her, and her family. My mom and dad got married in 2008.
We moved to America when I was 2 years old. I do not remember anything from when I was a baby, so I don’t know what Nepal was like, my mom has shown me pictures of Nepal and it’s gorgeous. I completely understand why we moved to America, and I support their decision because it was the best for our family, but I would love to go back to Nepal and see everything I missed.
My mom got married to my dad when she was 18 and then gave birth to me when she was 20, so she was a young mom. When we moved, my mom’s sister, her husband, and their daughter were also in America, so everything wasn’t completely different for us. They helped us a lot while we were new to America, so we eventually got comfortable.
When we first moved to America, we lived in an apartment complex, in an average neighborhood. My grandma, grandpa, great grandpa, and aunts, lived in the same neighborhood as us so we would visit them often. I remember playing with my aunts and my cousin outside in the park, now thinking back to it makes me smile every time. We moved into the house I’m currently living in, in 2015. We live close to my cousin so I can easily walk to their house if I want to hang out. Our house isn’t too small nor too big for us, and it didn’t take us too long to settle in our house.
In 2020, my mom got pregnant with my brother, Rishaan Mangar. I didn’t really mind if it was a girl or boy, but I was secretly hoping for a baby brother because I thought having a baby brother was cool, and I still stand by that. He was quite big for his age, but we love him regardless because he’s our little boy. He is now almost 5 months old and is a happy, healthy, energetic, baby. I know he’ll make it far in the future.
Right now, we’re happily living in Michigan but life in America isn’t at its highest right now. There is a pandemic going around that many people are dying from, and racism and discrimination is still going around. I may be a kid and you may not want to listen to what I say but many people are being killed because of the color of their skin or their beliefs which I think is ridiculous. A person cannot change their skin color because you simply want them to, they are their own individual self and should be treated equally as everyone else.
