By Sarah Gale
What if homeroom was almost 9,000 miles from your actual home? Three international students from Eastern Central Africa who are studying at Jefferson Christian Academy, are very familiar with that feeling.
Whitney Ogwoka is from Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya. She boarded a plane, for the first time, in 2017 to come to America. She says the experience of being on the airplane was “a shock.” She said was treated to the unpleasant experience of having a child kicking the back of her seat for most of the flight which prevented her from getting any sleep. Whitney says she enjoys working in JCA’s vocational programs, and visiting American restaurants. Her family, friends, and the freedom of being in her own country are what she misses most about Kenya.
David Mugisha and his cousin Sarah Teta are from the capital of Rwanda, Kigali. On his first day in The United States, David was tired from jet lag due to him having spent over 23 hours in the air, and rushing to make connecting flights. Unfortunately, this was not the only hectic part of his journey to the US: there was a four-month delay in him getting here because of complications within embassies due to COVID 19. His favorite things about America so far include basketball, and macaroni and cheese.
David said he didn’t have any idea of what it would like to live here before he arrived, “I just knew Texas was hot.”
Sarah, a sophomore, arrived recently in America for this school year. She says she was nervous about being new in the country and in a boarding school for the first time. The climate in Africa is very consistent year-round so Sarah is looking forward to experiencing all the distinct seasons while living in Texas. Her favorite thing about the school is the spread-out class schedule, meanwhile, her favorite part about America as a whole is the food. Sarah explained that in Rwanda they don’t have some of our popular fast food restaurants.
“So the day I got to America, I was like I have to get into a McDonald’s.”