Shared Language: Asylum Seeker Finds Community in English Classes
By Anna Gardner
For his entire life, Siddig Musa, 26, had faced persecution in Sudan because of his ethnicity. “They treat me like I am nothing,” he says. In his home of Khartoum, and throughout the country, Zaghawa people and other non-Arab ethnic minorities have faced ethnic cleansing and genocide for generations. In 2019, Siddig paused his college studies to join the nonviolent protests that resulted in the overthrow of President Omar al-Bashir. Unable to return to his studies the next year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Siddig worked part-time with his father and uncle at a supermarket. But when civil war erupted in April 2023, Siddig watched the supermarket burn down and his life around him collapse; his family hid from bombings in their home.
Recognizing the needs of individuals like Siddig, Henry Street has established the Necessities for Newly Arrived New Yorkers Emergency Response Fund. Existing funding for vital support like food and housing is stretched thin; to keep pace with increasing demand for our services, we are seeking to raise $50,000 over the next two months.
Fearing for his life, Siddig decided in September 2023 that he could no longer stay in Sudan. Over seven months, he traveled from Sudan to the United States, taking buses, cars, planes, and walking through 11 countries. Along the way, he faced armed mafia in Nicaragua, and had to borrow money from family and friends to pay hefty bribes for safety. After the brutal journey through Mexico, he crossed the U.S. border and declared asylum. He then traveled from San Diego to San Francisco, D.C., and his final destination, New York.
Siddig now lives in the Randall’s Island emergency migrant shelter. Each night, he sleeps on a cot among hundreds of other single men, with no privacy. “Nobody wants to stay there, but you have to survive it to get to a good life.” It was here where he learned of Henry Street from another migrant in the tent shelter. “I saw my friend who had many papers. I was curious to know what he was doing; he told me he’s a GED student at Henry Street Settlement. He gave me the address and [now] I come here to study English.”
Siddig, upper right, with his ESOL classmates and teachers.
Siddig recently celebrated the end of the semester with his fellow English language learners in Henry Street’s intermediate English for Speakers of Other Languages, or ESOL, class. “The class is a big value to me to meet people and learn English. It motivates me to do more,” he says. “It is better to come here to gain knowledge than sit in the shelter all day.” In addition to free English classes, Siddig uses the ATTAIN Lab to advance his Microsoft Office and other computer software skills. His hope is that in the United States he can achieve economic stability and help his family escape Sudan to somewhere safer.
You can support Siddig and the hundreds of migrants coming through Henry Street’s open doors by donating to the Necessities for Newly Arrived New Yorkers Emergency Response Fund. Help us reach our goal of $50,000 to provide food access, clothing, MetroCards, legal assistance, emergency shelter, and more to our newest New Yorkers. Give now at HenryStreet.org/EmergencyResponse.
