Olga Jaramillo

full interview

Well, my name is Eduardo. I’m a photographer. I am working in the project called “1,000 Dreams,” and we are doing a series with people, with refugees. We’re managing to captivate, uh, interview people. Looking for the reason of, of refugees. What their dreams are, their goals, their challenges. And today I’m going to ask you a couple of questions where your story is going to be told. And as you saw, we have already signed the, this… the…
Agreement.

Aha. So who are you? 
I am Olga Jaramillo, from Venezuela.

Okay. What type of housing do you live in and who do you live with?
I live with my, my three children and my husband. Rented.

Okay. How do you spend your time here? 
Well, my daily routine is: I wake up at 6 a.m., I get my children ready for school. Then, I leave lunch ready at home and go to work.

Do you work? 
Yes. I work in school and office maintenance. And I return home at about 1 a.m. or 2 a.m.

What are some of the things that bring you joy, make you happy or make you want to move forward? 
To see how much my children have grown academically in this country. That gives me a lot of satisfaction, seeing the effort they make every day and, and the quality of life they are leading here, that they can ride alone on the train, that they can go to the supermarket and I don’t feel that fear that something will happen to them on the street. I know they’re going back home. 

You’re telling me that you don’t feel the fear of that, on the street and stuff. 
I don’t feel the insecurity that I felt in the country.

What has life been like since you arrived? 
Well, at first difficult, but not impossible. My husband and I have been very consistent and hard-working to get ahead and one of the things that has helped us to get ahead is to respect the laws and investigate how we should be better citizens in, in this beautiful city that is New York.

What has been good for you about being here? Since you are in a free country as you mentioned. 
Um, to meet different people of many nationalities, the, the, the culture that exists here and above all the freedom to express yourself regarding religion, politics, your ideas and to know organizations whose, whose mission goes far beyond, just, just helping. They want to leave traces on each of the volunteers that is involved in it.

And how do you feel, since you’re doing this part of your life?
Volunteering? I feel good. I love coming every Saturday to the “Aid For Life” day and every Saturday is an adventure. It is a new teaching that strengthens and comforts us. And we see that every person who comes from different nationalities has a story to tell and a purpose that brought them here.

And if I ask you how difficult? How difficult is it for you that you face every day of your things? 
How difficult…

What has been difficult?
What has been difficult for me here has been the language. Yes. And sometimes, when I didn’t have a job or a permanent job, to go out and look for it because sometimes I didn’t get to the right place or we didn’t have… When I arrived here in 2018, there wasn’t as much information as there is now.

Can you describe how living here in the United States, living here in New York, has made you feel? 
I feel really good. I feel good. I have grown personally and, as a mother, above all. It has helped me a lot, it has strengthened me and, and it has taught me that, that nothing is impossible, that if we are constant, disciplined and hard-working we can achieve our goal. 

Have you ever imagined that you could handle this situation? 
No, I didn’t imagine it.

You haven’t been able to imagine it. And how have you managed to overcome it? Survive, live with it. 
I like to read. I like to read a lot and, and I follow motivational people on social media and that has helped me to keep going, because if they could, so can I. I’ve heard about you. I know that you are a, a young man who arrived across, across the border looking for his dream, seeking security and you have achieved a lot of things. And that you could be my son, that inspires me and I thank God who puts people like you in my path who want to move forward and leave their origin, their country up and show that there are people who bet on winning and that we know that success has no age and that sooner or later we will achieve it. 

And since you’re telling me all this and, and thank you. How do you feel? In other words, from everything you have experienced, from everything you have learned, how do you feel?
Grateful.

Do you think you developed the capacity to face these challenges? 
Yes.

Or do I think, do you think that you always had this ability, these abilities, strength and mechanisms with resilience?
Yes, well… I was educated by my grandmother, whom I love very much. Oh my God… She since… since I was a child, she taught me that we should learn a lot of crafts. She taught me that we should always move forward and be very hard-working and honest. My grandmother taught me a lot of things. I am grateful for the education that, that she gave me. I know it is. I know what she taught me. She educated me. Today it would have been very hard for me to get ahead because when we arrive and we face this, this process, it’s not easy at all. But if we bring these customs, uh, these teachings from, from a young age you can go out and it’s easier for you to walk.

What huh…? You’re talking to me, you told me about your grandmother, huh. I know it’s very painful. I understand you and I can be on your level too, because we’re all immigrants, right? We’re refugees, as we call it. And the question is, I know I hope you’ll take it easy. The question I want to ask you is something that will get to you deeply and I know that you will keep it and I will wait as long as necessary for you to answer me, okay? So the question would be: how does it feel to be away from the rest of your family?
Distant, but, again, I repeat, grateful because being here allows me to help. I can contribute in some way or another, in any circumstance that they may have there. 

How does it make you… How does the feeling of not belonging within that family warmth affect you? 
It affects me on, uh, typical dates like Christmas, carnival. I love the carnival of, of the town where I come from because it’s pure joy. The colorful streets. That, that I really miss. 

To continue with the next topic, right? To leave this topic I know it’s a little hard. I want to ask you how do you think refugees are perceived in this country?
Well, right now I think that especially those of our nationality, Venezuelans, I think that the media, some media, have been responsible for spreading a horrible campaign and that makes us look like… we are being judged as sinners and I am grateful that there are people like you and all these who are betting on this “1,000 Dreams,” as you told me, so that our voice can be heard, that there are people who are here giving their all working, teaching our children to respect, to study, to strive for a, an education that will exalt them and thus make our nationality look good.

Since the project is called “1,000 Dreams” and you’re talking to me about discrimination, I’ve heard of disclosures. I want you to answer this question for me, which is very important both to me, because I feel like related to this question. Can you tell us about a time when you have felt discriminated against? 
Oh, yes (laughs). On one occasion I was working in, in the kitchen area and obviously because I didn’t know English and other Hispanics who did speak the language because they are, they are descendants. I don’t know if I’m explaining myself. I asked them the question, they didn’t want to help me, I felt discriminated against at the time.

Now we’re moving on. We started with good questions and now we’re moving back a bit. We are going to go a little deeper into the topic and the first question regarding your past is: why did you leave your country?
Well, mainly because of the harassment they had against my husband and because I have a degree in education and they never gave me the opportunity to, to exercise my, my career because I have a different political opinion.

Can you describe to me what happened?
Well… Okay. My husband is an industrial engineer and he once supervised the works. And at one point, seeing everything that was happening in his environment, he decided not to continue working for, for the state, and that’s when the persecution began. And after that, people who worked in the government tried to kidnap one of my daughters. That’s when we decided…

How does it…? How did it make you feel at that time?
Very fearful. Terrified.

How was the trip here? Any particularly difficult experiences you can tell us about?
Well, from the time I left my hometown until we entered the, to Valencia because we left the Colombian border, it was horrible. At every checkpoint we passed through our country, our belongings were taken from us. I was disappointed to see that instead of helping us, they practically stole from us.

How do you feel? 
Now? I feel good, I’m calm.

How did those moments make you feel?
Disappointed. Disappointed to, to see that our country’s police forces were super corrupt. They don’t, they don’t have values. They don’t care about anything at all.

Do you often think about these events, about those moments that you went through? 
Yes, I think that as a migrant you don’t forget… the day you decide to pack your bags and leave everything.

Is there anything in particular that you often think about? 
My grandmother. Yes.

What do you think when you think about that? 
Because…

What do you feel? 
I feel powerless and at the same time it gives me strength from that dream. One of my dreams is to build something worthy for her to live.

Have you ever imagined that you could handle this situation? 
Yes, I have always trusted that God will give me the strength to move forward.

And does the situation in which you, that you faced, affect you today? Has it affected you a lot? Tell me about that. 
Yes, Yes. Yes, it affected me a lot because as I told you, when I arrived here, my girls were small, from five to six years old. They were used to their friends, friendships, family. And it changed their lives. From one day to the next.

How could you survive and overcome it? 
Praying. I believe a lot in God, praying and, and strengthening myself and my children. Because of them I had to get ahead. 

Have you created any strategies or help mechanisms to overcome difficult times?
Yes. As I told you, I like going to the offices of this Aid For Life organization and the friendships I have made there, friendships in the church, and I like to talk and tell people about these experiences because I think they can strengthen others. 

You tell me that you have felt supported and you have felt empowered with everything. But my question is, where do you find strength and support?
In my children.

Before the event that led you to flee your home occurred, what was your dream?
My dream was to become a criminal lawyer and help young people who were deprived of their liberty. Because I don’t, I didn’t think… I don’t believe in my country’s criminal justice system. And I detest the procedural delay that exists. And I like to believe in young people because I know that behind those bars, there are people who may have committed an act they shouldn’t have because they didn’t have the right guidance and deserve a second chance. And my dream was to be a criminal lawyer and part of my hours… well… to do a volunteering work and to do what it takes to form an organization where we could study the background and help those who can be rescued and help them to reintegrate into society.

Before the situations that happen in your country passed, before, before all that, even before everything that your country is going through, what was your dream? What, what was your goal, what was the goal you wanted to achieve?
In my country? That one.

Was that your dream?
Yes, and I like politics.

You like politics? You told me about your dream… I want, let’s talk about dreams. You told me that you wanted to be a criminal lawyer. What else huh…? To deepen your dreams, what more would you like, what more…? At that time, let’s go to that time. What else would you have liked to do? What did you want to live for? Say, “my dream…” 
Well, well and I repeat. In Venezuela, that was one of my great dreams, to be a recognized criminal lawyer and I, too, would have liked to venture into, go to, a diversified high school and to give talks because there is a lot of early motherhood, there are many abandoned young girls and I would have loved to get to the heart of each one of them and tell them that everything has its time. That the important thing is that they must prepare and take advantage of each stage, live each stage of their lives. 

Perfect, wonderful. Speaking of dreams, when you were leaving home, what was your dream for the future? 
Well, my dream, my current goal…

What were you dreaming about? Excuse me.
I dreamt of being at peace and being in a safe place with my children so that they could continue to grow academically. Personally that was, that was my goal when leaving… 

Since we’re wrapping up with the questions, there are a few missing, but I want to go over and correct every detail. Since we are talking about dreams, we are talking about painful issues. I know it’s something that leaves its mark on you, right? I would like to know more about one more part of your dream that deepens you or how do you feel? How do you feel about that? Do you feel that you have achieved a goal? How do you feel about…? How do you feel about not being able to become a lawyer? Rather, now you are, you told me that you deal with the maintaining of a school, that that does not, does not dishonor a person, but one continues with his future and I see that it is part of the dream. So tell me that, how you feel in that part. 
Well, I feel good because even though, as you just said, I work in maintenance, I receive a fair wage. And with that salary I can contribute to my household and I can help because maybe I can’t have, uh, achieve that goal in my country, but here I can help my daughters to have an elite education. 

Perfect, and before… Let’s go to the end of the interview now. Before you left your country, what were your strengths to continue?
That’s it, eh. To arrive, to arrive in this country. Work hard and train, build my home. To be able to help my relatives from here. Especially my grandmother, whom I love very much and, and focus on that. Investing time and money in my daughters. That they can have that education that in our country they cannot and could not have. 

Have you helped them?
Yes.

How?
Work… Working hard. Sorry. And researching and going to places where they can tell me what I should do to make my daughters move forward. So that they can grow academically. To make them better people, that’s it.

Perfect. How do you feel after so much we’ve talked about? How, how do you feel? 
All of this. All right. I really like it.

Did you like it?
Yes.

What you’ve been through seems really difficult. Do you feel that you have grown in any way as a result of these experiences or that something positive has come out of it? 
Yes. Yes. Personally, I feel like I’ve become more, more empathetic to people. And I have learned that I should not judge them, I should not criticize them, that I should not ask any migrant what baggage they carry because we all bring dreams, hopes and we all came here with a purpose and everyone has that story of why they had to leave their country, their nation. 

What are your…? You are talking to me about hope, what are your hopes and dreams for the future? 
Now my dream is to see my daughters graduate professionally. I dream of a free Venezuela. 

Your dream is a free Venezuela, like everyone else, right? Thank you very much for answering all of these questions. Is there something you’d like to add that might help people better understand your experience, uh, experience, or the lives of refugees here? Something you would like, a piece of advice as a final message? Even if it’s short, even if it’s long. We talked about discrimination, about human rights violations about you fleeing your country. It wasn’t your dream but your dream continues and you will still try to achieve it. And thank you for sharing your story. And we would like to know, finally, whether you would like to add more information to those people who are refugees here.
I especially want to address those who live here in New York City. I want to tell them that, to be grateful and respectful, because this city during these years, from 2022 until now, has opened its arms to us in an incredible way and I think that some people haven’t, they haven’t been able to take advantage of it and that this city has a lot of opportunities and that they should be intelligent. They must respect and, and adapt and, and focus on what they came to work for and demonstrate that, that we Venezuelans are human beings, that, that we like to work, to move forward, to be successful and to be like the Phoenix who rises again.

Well, thank you so much and as part of Witness Change organization we thank you for sharing your story. We thank you for sharing a little bit of your story telling it, let’s hope that all your dreams come true and… which you’ve been achieving. That your dreams will continue to grow every day for you, your children and your family. Thank you, Olga.