from Eritrea

Azieb Gebrehiiwet
owner and president, Eyes on the Future (day care center)
1329 W. Loyola Avenue, Chicago, IL

Country of origin: Eritrea
City of origin: Asmara
Year immigrated to U.S.: 1971
Age at time of immigration: 21
Reason for immigration: "My husband was in school."
Lived in any other country: no
U.S. citizen: yes
Reason for becoming a U.S. citizen: easier to travel because Eritrea was not recognized as independent country
Any family in U.S.: yes, fiancé
Owned business in country of origin: no
Year started business: 1993
Capital to start business: bank loan

Excerpts from interview

about language
Azieb: Even though I thought I was, I really know English, I found out I didn't know English when I came here. Because the way I communicate to people, I was translating in my language. So, it's really, it's not just coming the words out of your mouth. It has to make sense.
It's more about culture?
About culture. About understanding the culture.

about first coming to America
Azieb: The first day, is, I didn't know in the U.S. they have weather conditions. You know, we have the same weather all day long. And in the evening, it's predictable to drop the temperature. So I, we take a jacket or a coat even in the hot days in the, where you call here 'summer.' In the evening the weather drops, so I used to carry my coat with me in the middle of June and July. And people are looking at me, like, "A coat?" ...Because I'm thinking on our way home, it's going to be cold. And people ask me, "Aren't you hot?" No, but you have to wear your coat in the evening. ...I could not understand, uh, that even if I see you and you don't have a jacket. I'm not paying attention that you didn't. I'm totally assuming that you have your jacket somehow. You know you don't pay attention. Then when people ask you, "Oh, it's a nice day today." Or "Oh, it's going to be rainy or something." I was like, "You are talking too much about the weather!" I didn't understand. But I guess you have to talk about the weather because you have lots of changing climate.

Azieb: Where I grew up you buy a material. There is a tailor. Then they just measure you. You come back in a week to pick up your clothes. Here, you don't do this. You just go to the store and you can just buy the same day anything. I was in heaven! ...Wow! Believe it! I could not leave the shopping mall. You know, you could find a purse on this side and then the shoes and then the hair stuff. Oh, my husband. I drove him like crazy. "I'm student! We're students! We don't have money." But I am looking at this thing. Oh, my goodness. ...Believe me, this is like, my goodness. You don't have to wait one week. You don't have to see how it's going to come and fix it. It was really, it was amazing. ...Every night there is a discovery. [giggling]

Azieb: I picture my America to be so clean and only villas. Didn't know anything about the train. So I happened to experience, my first experience is to go to Hyde Park and from the Loop...and it's really, it's not the real Am…. I mean, I thought I was in a completely different place. Where are the houses we see on television? Where is this big mansion? I'm thinking like it's Hollywood. ...I didn't imagine there is this kind of America and this kind of America. So I first thought, "What happened? Why is this like that?" you know. I see poor people and I didn't know America could be poor, you know, have poor people. And, so, but I was on my way to Minnesota. So when I went to Minnesota, I found the America I used to think.

about business experience
Azieb: I had a permit to work as a student's wife. So the first thing, the first job I took was at American Lutheran Church headquarters in Minneapolis in their accounting department. And I found the same NCR machine that I was using in Addis. It's just the same everything. So they were surprised. They, you know, how many miles away and you're totally from different area, but I used the same identical machine. ...I came in and said "Oh, I can operate this machine and it's an accounting machine and once you do that it does your journal. And then you can do the ledgers and the financial statement and everything." They were like, "What? The people from Africa can do this?" I was hired immediately and had insurance privileges immediately. So, first thing, I blend in, no problem.

Azieb (on her promotion to vice-president of operations for a French bank in Chicago): It was so exciting! I grew, it's from dedication and hard work. You know, I grew with the bank. Every time there is a promotion, I never missed, I never missed it. I was recognized immediately. There are some bosses I had that you would never think I would take over their position. Because there is a criteria for head of operations, mostly men, mostly white men. And I had a boss that's beautiful, handsome, tall, young male. White. But I was very competitive. I knew what to do at what time, I knew how to present. I never took anything for granted. I'm so appreciative of the chance I got for school, for the opportunity to work. So it's not like I'm playing with this opportunity.

about challenges for starting a business
Azieb: So I came home and I made a plan on what I want to do next. I felt like I have to pay, I have a patriotic duty. If I have to pay back now, to this country that welcomed me and raising my children and I have education, I have my job, I have made friends. So, it is really, it helped me to see if I can do something. And what I have seen is all the mothers that I could help. Be like for them, like somebody was there for me. So I came up with the idea. At first my family didn't agree with the idea. They have all the right not to agree because I was really in banking and traveling.

Azieb: And day care centers, they were suing this and suing that, and I said, "If I have good intentions, I will be successful and I won't have all these problems." I just felt like I am comfortable doing it no matter what. ...In order for me to have a place, I had to go to the alderman's office in our neighborhood. They referred me to a development corp. that is not-for-profit, an organization that helps you spot areas. So I bought the building. They helped me find a building. They forwarded, like, information about which bank I could go for finance. The bank immediately recognized me without any experience, they really gambled with me. They knew I could be successful with my intention to do it. And bought the building. It took three months to rehab the building. I took, I went to school, to Truman College to take child development while this rehab was going. It was fun! It's so much fun to go back to school at your old age.

Azieb: I found many difficulties in the beginning because knowing the culture, people. I never really gave anybody a check that bounces on them. So people were giving me some checks that they don't have money in the bank and it was bouncing. And I, if you tell me a problem, "I cannot pay you this week" and "Can I pay you next week?", I trusted people. But they were not really paying me the next week either. So I ran into the public and the neighborhood, you know, business in neighborhood.

Azieb: And I never close the school, even during the storm. Even during the hardest strong storm that stopped the city and we had 29 children that day. That's when everything is freezing. We happen to be here to clean the school on Saturday, we snowed in here. We continue shoveling the snow until the entrance is not blocked. So to my surprise, I made 29 mothers go to work that day. So that made my, you know, that promise I had, "I will be there for them." That proved to me that we were. We get wonderful letters from our parents.

about advice for other immigrant entrepreneurs
Azieb: Doesn't matter if you are a woman or you're black. Some young people who are going to college that they say, "Well, you know, I'm a black person. I'm descent from this country. I have an accent. I am a Chinese person." I used to go from place to place to stay. There is my business card. You could be somebody. Don't give up! This is America. Really, don't. There is a chance. If I have a chance, I'm sure the others could have a chance.

Azieb: I encourage people to be entrepreneur, be of good service, mentor to your fellowship. There is so much reward, you know. Financially, in child care, you really have, if you are generous and try to pay your insurance for your employees and all this, you may be making minimum wage. But there is more than that you can gain, you know. If you are not happy making the money, if the money is not fulfilling your feelings, you know, you have empty spot. Don't worry about the money. Because you can only do so much with money.