Storyteller Series - #66 My Story Tiles 15-20

... continuing our virtual tour....

Since you all know what the tiles look like, I took a more comprehensive blip with much more in it. The Children and The Neighborhood Benches, and in the far distance The Rosa Parks Bench (not yet studied) and the signage for the elementary school named after Rosa Parks.

My Story - tile 15
I am from Eritrea and came to the USA
November 1990 with my husband who is
from Kartoum, Sudan. I loved my country
but left it because there was a bad war for
30 years. There was a lot of killings. I lost my
village, my family and friends.

It was hard to learn English and different
here. I came to City Heights and we lived
where the milk section of Albertson's is (note: houses were torn down to make a
now. I love Rosa Parks, my favorite place. shopping center - that's what she means)
My son started here; I got my first job here.
It's like my home. At first, it was hard
because people spoke Spanish but I have
learned to speak a lot.

My Story - tile 16
I am the youngest son in a family of 9. For
10 years, I was a Police Captain in South
Vietnam. On April 30, 1975 the Vietnamese
Communists took over the country and put
me in prison for 7 years. I was released in
1982. I married and came to the USA in 1990
with my wife and two children. 6 years later
I graduated from San Diego City College
with an AA Degree. As the Vietnamese
Parent Coordinator from 1998 until today, I
am so happy and so proud of my job at
Rosa Parks.

My Story - tile 17
We are an African American family and my
ancestors were from Texas and very proud.
My parents wanted a decent life for their
children and chose to move to California. I
was born and raised in San Diego. My wife
is a registered nurse and I work with the City
of San Diego. We live in City Heights and
own 3 properties. We chose this area
because of the improvements and
redevelopment in the neighborhood. If it
weren't for Rosa Parks, I would not be where
I am today.

My Story - tile 18
I am Native Columbian black, Jewish; I
speak Spanish and married a Nicaraguan.
We met in Costa Rica when I was a Peace
Corps volunteer.
When I was 7 1/2 years old, an American
Jewish family adopted me from Columbia. I
have one white sister and another adopted
black sister who is also Columbian. I've
been brought up Jewish but also respect
other religions. My family lives in Israel,
Canada, New Mexico, Illinois, New York,
Virginia.

My Story - tile 19
All my life I've gone to inner city schools.
After my parents' divorce, I, my mother and
siblings moved into the Institute of Cultural
Affairs (ICA) a non-profit social change
organization in Kentucky. It was communal
living and I became a team leader among the
children. At 13 I went to South America with
a guardian because my mother had gone to
Malaysia and Indonesia. I learned to speak
Spanish and participate in projects teaching
younger students.
I loved back to Kentucky with my mother
and finished high school receiving awards
for academics, leadership and athletics.
After finishing college on an ROTC
scholarship, I spent 6 years in the Army --
some of it in th Persian Gulf War. After
leaving the military, I went back to Chile
where fell in love with my husband whom I'd
met there 16 years earlier. We've been living
in San Diego 12 years and I'm an active
member of the Rosa Parks School
community.

Diverse - tile 20

The designing artist featured In Today's Views is Sayoko Kay Mura