Success — Lives Transformed

Success for Hard Worker in Alexandria

Alusine Kamara immigrated to the United States from Sierra Leone, where a long-standing civil war had devastated many families. In his home country, Alusine worked for more than 13 years as an entomology technician toward eradicating and minimizing the risks of malaria and river blindness. He came to the U.S. with his three children in June 2001, and moved in with his older brother. His wife wasn't able to come yet, so he was raising his young children alone, with help from his brother. He worked two jobs, as a certified nursing assistant and as a busboy for low wages.

Alusine found the Center for Employment Training in Alexandria, Virginia through friends who had previously attended the CET Building Maintenance job training program. Upon enrollment at CET in September 2002, Alusine quit one job, but continued working as a CNA overnight from 11pm to 7am. Following work, he would go home to get his children off to school and came to training during the day. After he went home, he would help his children with schoolwork, and slept about 2 hours a night. On the days he had time off from work and training, he would catch up with his sleep.

Alusine did very well in the training program and took advantage of any opportunity to learn additional course subjects. His instructor at CET, James Elliot said, "It was a pleasure to have Mr. Kamara as a student. His attitude to achieve certain levels of knowledge has led to a position that will coincide with this thirst, thus making him the employee that many (facilities) properties would love to have." Alusine completed the class in May 2003 and began sending his resume to local employers.

Alusine was hired at the Army-Navy Country Club soon after graduating, earning $12.50 per hour with medical benefits for himself and his children. He has worked for the Club for over 2 years now. His pay was recently raised to $15.75 per hour and also received an annual bonus each year. He has put money into a 401K plan at work, and the Country Club provides lunch, uniforms, health and dental insurance. He says that when he finished school at CET, he didn't have any experience. On the job, he's continued learning, and can now fix almost any problem. He has learned as much about heating ventilation and air conditioning as he can. His supervisor has encouraged him to learn as much as possible.

Alusine is grateful to be in the United States, where his youngest son, who is disabled, can benefit from educational opportunities that he could not receive in Africa. His son, who is deaf, will be going into 6th grade next year at a school run by Galludet University and is doing well. The oldest child, a daughter, is moving to 11th grade where she will begin a nursing program at the high school. His middle child, a son, is moving to 8th grade next year and is also doing well in school.

When his wife joined him in Alexandria in 2003, they moved into an apartment on their own. They will be moving soon as they will go to settlement on July 20, 2005 to purchase a townhouse. A brighter future awaits the Kamara family in their adopted land!

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