Worku is smiling and standing proudly in front his store "Rise Together Resale"
Photostories by Humans of St. Louis
Worku
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
“I am originally from Ethiopia and I am a U.S. citizen now thanks to the MICA Project. I came to the U.S. in 1999 when I was in my late 30s. I was in Washington, D.C. for two years. I met my wife, and now we have two kids. I love St. Louis. The main reason I came here was so that I could get more of an education. I studied Theology and Leadership and now I have a 501(c)3 organization that helps immigrants find work, clothing, and housing. Before I started this ministry, I had a cleaning business of my own. I had nine workers who were all refugees. But the business went under because I did not have enough help. So, I put together this non-profit, Rise Together Ministries, and I ended up helping about 500-600 people in the last three or four years with clothing, furniture, and job development. So many things to just pay it forward and help people to become better citizens. From my cleaning business, I learned where the needs are and where the gaps are. We saw that gap, and we are trying to fill it.”
“Why did you decide to call it Rise Together Ministries?”
“I cannot rise only by myself. When we are together, it is better for us and for others. If we help the less fortunate, and lift them up, it will help us to rise and be better. It’s a community approach. Even though we could have made mistakes in our lives, we can have restoration from that, and even if we have been persecuted in our countries, or anything, if we understand each other and help each other, we will always be better.”
“Why did you decide to call it Rise Together Ministries?”
“I cannot rise only by myself. When we are together, it is better for us and for others. If we help the less fortunate, and lift them up, it will help us to rise and be better. It’s a community approach. Even though we could have made mistakes in our lives, we can have restoration from that, and even if we have been persecuted in our countries, or anything, if we understand each other and help each other, we will always be better.”
Worku is smiling while in front of clothing racks inside his store. There are customers shopping in the background.
“What was the biggest struggle in your life that you have overcome?”
“In terms of coming to America, it was the concept of space. The perception of Americans in my country is that the people are willing to go as far as possible to help others. When I came here, even within the churches, I saw a lot of segregation. There are white churches and black churches, and white neighborhoods and black neighborhoods. Emotionally and culturally, that was very difficult to understand. Because every American I met in Ethiopia back home never seemed to talk about this idea of ‘my territory.’ In my country, every hundred kilometers, you will find a hospital, or a school, or a water project that is funded by Americans – American missionaries, the American government, American agencies. So when you come here with that perception, it is a shock how people are so guarded. That was a bit of a struggle for me. Some American missionaries I met said, ‘I was here with you in the good times; I cannot leave you in the bad times. I cannot leave you when guerrilla fighters are taking your city.’ There was a lot of risk of dying. We’d be in a cave together, eating some kind of snacks while a war was going on.”
“Right now, we mainly help Nepalis, Congolese, Somalis, Ethiopians, and some people from Pakistan and Afghanistan. We have a job development program for woodworking. We collaborate with a company called Reclaim Renew. They take barn wood and they restore it to make very high end furniture. Many refugees are working there and they say, ‘This is like my life. I was like barn wood, thrown away. But I’ve being restored.’ So that is the message we are also trying to give: ‘You can be better.’ For refugees, this is very important. Even at its worst, America is the best when you compare it to what we have been through. These are people that have a new chance to do a job. Usually, no one wants to hire them for two reasons: because they have a record and a bad past, or because of their English and because they don’t understand American culture. So we take them in, we train them, they become very honorable and have dignity, and they earn a skill.”
“In terms of coming to America, it was the concept of space. The perception of Americans in my country is that the people are willing to go as far as possible to help others. When I came here, even within the churches, I saw a lot of segregation. There are white churches and black churches, and white neighborhoods and black neighborhoods. Emotionally and culturally, that was very difficult to understand. Because every American I met in Ethiopia back home never seemed to talk about this idea of ‘my territory.’ In my country, every hundred kilometers, you will find a hospital, or a school, or a water project that is funded by Americans – American missionaries, the American government, American agencies. So when you come here with that perception, it is a shock how people are so guarded. That was a bit of a struggle for me. Some American missionaries I met said, ‘I was here with you in the good times; I cannot leave you in the bad times. I cannot leave you when guerrilla fighters are taking your city.’ There was a lot of risk of dying. We’d be in a cave together, eating some kind of snacks while a war was going on.”
“Right now, we mainly help Nepalis, Congolese, Somalis, Ethiopians, and some people from Pakistan and Afghanistan. We have a job development program for woodworking. We collaborate with a company called Reclaim Renew. They take barn wood and they restore it to make very high end furniture. Many refugees are working there and they say, ‘This is like my life. I was like barn wood, thrown away. But I’ve being restored.’ So that is the message we are also trying to give: ‘You can be better.’ For refugees, this is very important. Even at its worst, America is the best when you compare it to what we have been through. These are people that have a new chance to do a job. Usually, no one wants to hire them for two reasons: because they have a record and a bad past, or because of their English and because they don’t understand American culture. So we take them in, we train them, they become very honorable and have dignity, and they earn a skill.”
“We also have a janitorial cleaning business. The cleaning company started because we had a guy from Nepal who could not read English, he could not speak in English, and he could not even read in his own language. But he was a very good man. The system rejected him, but I said, ‘If we show this guy how to vacuum or how to clean a kitchen or a bathroom, he can do it. So, why don’t we start a small business?’ We started him and hired another Nepali guy and the two of them worked together. The other guy left the job because he was hired at the airport Hilton as a cleaner making $11 or $12 an hour. Our cleaning business has about 30 customers and we hire refugees for a year or two. If they do not speak English, it is okay. We help them learn with after school programs and ESL classes and they are able to still provide for their families. To me, that is very honorable because sometimes when you are poor, somebody has to help you. But if your lifestyle is one where you are always being helped, that hurts your dignity and you don’t get the satisfaction of knowing that you worked hard. You have to restore that dignity somehow. That’s the nature of it. It’s been a joy helping others. It makes me very happy when I help someone who has no other opportunity. To open a door for them is really a great thing.”
“Who did that for you when you first came here?”
“A lot of people. First, a missionary in Ethiopia who told me, ‘God loves you and you are loved. You are somebody. I can see a big gift in you in helping others.’ And that was somebody who was not even from my country that saw something in me. I think that transformed me forever to think that God accepts me as I am. And this missionary, who didn’t know me and accepted me as I am, put some sort of power in me. When I arrived here, I was the only brown guy in the neighborhood. Some guy saw me and said, ‘I need to meet that guy.’ And then let me move into his place. I didn’t have furniture and I was sleeping on the floor for six months, so he got me furniture. And, for the first time, someone did something for me in St. Louis. He was the most important person for me. He got married. I had finished school, I met my wife, and I got married. After that, I moved into a house with another American family, an older couple who I actually called mom and dad. They took care of me. They gave me my own room. We would eat together. And they never charged me because they wanted me to stand on my own. That transformed me, because when you see people do something good for you, the natural response is to be the same way for others.”
“Who did that for you when you first came here?”
“A lot of people. First, a missionary in Ethiopia who told me, ‘God loves you and you are loved. You are somebody. I can see a big gift in you in helping others.’ And that was somebody who was not even from my country that saw something in me. I think that transformed me forever to think that God accepts me as I am. And this missionary, who didn’t know me and accepted me as I am, put some sort of power in me. When I arrived here, I was the only brown guy in the neighborhood. Some guy saw me and said, ‘I need to meet that guy.’ And then let me move into his place. I didn’t have furniture and I was sleeping on the floor for six months, so he got me furniture. And, for the first time, someone did something for me in St. Louis. He was the most important person for me. He got married. I had finished school, I met my wife, and I got married. After that, I moved into a house with another American family, an older couple who I actually called mom and dad. They took care of me. They gave me my own room. We would eat together. And they never charged me because they wanted me to stand on my own. That transformed me, because when you see people do something good for you, the natural response is to be the same way for others.”
Worku stands outside his store and smiles at the camera.
“When did you become a citizen?”
“May 2015. For a long time I asked myself, ‘Why do I need to be a citizen?’ There was no reason, because if you have a green card in this country, you have most of the rights citizens have, except voting. I thought, ‘Maybe it is a good idea for me to keep my Ethiopian citizenship because if I want to adopt a child from Ethiopia, it would be much cheaper.’ If you are American, it can cost up to $20,000 to adopt from Africa. Then I ended up starting a small orphanage in Ethiopia for 20 kids. We wanted to help more. I’d go back and forth, and it was a hassle trying to get travel permits. In Europe, you might have to go to your embassy to get a visa. If you are American, you can just show your passport and you can pass. So it became a headache if I wanted to travel internationally.”
“In Ethiopia, I knew many kids who did not have parents. It is very common to find kids thrown on the street or at the door of somebody’s house because their parents cannot feed them. So I went back in 2008 for the first time to visit some orphanages. It doesn’t cost too much to help one kid. It’s probably $12 a month, and that includes all administrative costs. I thought, ‘If I could raise $12 a month to help one kid, I could help a lot of children.’ I asked my brother in Ethiopia, ‘Why don’t you try to help and I will help you?’ So, I founded an orphanage in 2010 a little bit outside of Addis Ababa. It is about $200 a month for those 20 kids right now. I have my own house there. We are in the process of starting a school and for those 20 kids we are covering the costs. My brother is there helping them any way he can and I send financial help. We have not started any sponsorship program yet, but that’s why I want to go back to Ethiopia as much as I can.”
“Rise Together Orphanage is connected to here. To me, Rise Together is not just a name. In America, when people name their kids, oftentimes they just name them whatever they come up with from the Internet or something. In my culture, you don’t name anybody just to name them. It has to have a meaning. So, the name of the ministry has a meaning for me. The meaning is so important for me. Anything I do, I do because of that reason. My name ‘Worku’ means ‘I found gold.’ My parents did not have a child and my older brother died in a car accident, so they were looking for a child. When I came, they said it was, ‘As good as finding gold.’ They tried many times and my mom could not get pregnant for a long time. Then they had a child. It has a meaning and that is the background.”
“What is your hope for the children that you sponsor in Africa?”
“To help them finish their education and then maybe start some kind of co-op or find land to provide for them. When we open the school, maybe we can send them to college there. Now they are fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. The last time I visited was in 2011 because the demand for my kids and this ministry became a lot. We had opened the cleaning and the woodworking companies. So I couldn’t go back and forth. I’d like to go back again soon though. There are many people who have helped me do all this. There’s a lady who works here Monday through Friday. Her husband is a dentist, and her kids have moved on. She’s just volunteering. And I have a man who maintains the woodworking building. Sometimes people tell me they have heard my story and they want to help. I think that’s a blessing. People are the best resources if you want to impact other people. So, I have started these things, but I have a lot of help. We really rise together.”
“Who have you told your story to?”
“I am so busy, so I don’t go out and speak. But sometimes people ask. You know, a woman in Wichita, Kansas who knows my wife has written a book about me.”
“May 2015. For a long time I asked myself, ‘Why do I need to be a citizen?’ There was no reason, because if you have a green card in this country, you have most of the rights citizens have, except voting. I thought, ‘Maybe it is a good idea for me to keep my Ethiopian citizenship because if I want to adopt a child from Ethiopia, it would be much cheaper.’ If you are American, it can cost up to $20,000 to adopt from Africa. Then I ended up starting a small orphanage in Ethiopia for 20 kids. We wanted to help more. I’d go back and forth, and it was a hassle trying to get travel permits. In Europe, you might have to go to your embassy to get a visa. If you are American, you can just show your passport and you can pass. So it became a headache if I wanted to travel internationally.”
“In Ethiopia, I knew many kids who did not have parents. It is very common to find kids thrown on the street or at the door of somebody’s house because their parents cannot feed them. So I went back in 2008 for the first time to visit some orphanages. It doesn’t cost too much to help one kid. It’s probably $12 a month, and that includes all administrative costs. I thought, ‘If I could raise $12 a month to help one kid, I could help a lot of children.’ I asked my brother in Ethiopia, ‘Why don’t you try to help and I will help you?’ So, I founded an orphanage in 2010 a little bit outside of Addis Ababa. It is about $200 a month for those 20 kids right now. I have my own house there. We are in the process of starting a school and for those 20 kids we are covering the costs. My brother is there helping them any way he can and I send financial help. We have not started any sponsorship program yet, but that’s why I want to go back to Ethiopia as much as I can.”
“Rise Together Orphanage is connected to here. To me, Rise Together is not just a name. In America, when people name their kids, oftentimes they just name them whatever they come up with from the Internet or something. In my culture, you don’t name anybody just to name them. It has to have a meaning. So, the name of the ministry has a meaning for me. The meaning is so important for me. Anything I do, I do because of that reason. My name ‘Worku’ means ‘I found gold.’ My parents did not have a child and my older brother died in a car accident, so they were looking for a child. When I came, they said it was, ‘As good as finding gold.’ They tried many times and my mom could not get pregnant for a long time. Then they had a child. It has a meaning and that is the background.”
“What is your hope for the children that you sponsor in Africa?”
“To help them finish their education and then maybe start some kind of co-op or find land to provide for them. When we open the school, maybe we can send them to college there. Now they are fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. The last time I visited was in 2011 because the demand for my kids and this ministry became a lot. We had opened the cleaning and the woodworking companies. So I couldn’t go back and forth. I’d like to go back again soon though. There are many people who have helped me do all this. There’s a lady who works here Monday through Friday. Her husband is a dentist, and her kids have moved on. She’s just volunteering. And I have a man who maintains the woodworking building. Sometimes people tell me they have heard my story and they want to help. I think that’s a blessing. People are the best resources if you want to impact other people. So, I have started these things, but I have a lot of help. We really rise together.”
“Who have you told your story to?”
“I am so busy, so I don’t go out and speak. But sometimes people ask. You know, a woman in Wichita, Kansas who knows my wife has written a book about me.”
Close up of Worku looking at the camera.
“How is it that you heard about the MICA Project?”
“I heard about the MICA Project from a Nepali guy who said they are very helpful. I was still wondering if I wanted to become a citizen, but I called and they really were helpful. I finally decided to become a citizen because of the visa headache and also because of my experience going back home. I realized that I was a misfit. Here, I am becoming more and more American. My wife is American. All the people I work with are American. I always considered myself Ethiopian, but the more I see myself here, I’m part of this country. I am helping the people, so I decided to become a citizen. It surprised me how easy the process is and that is because of MICA’s help. Everything I had heard was that it was very difficult, but they prepared me. The other surprising part is how many Americans really do not know about their country. I feel like sometimes I know more, to be honest. And they don’t always know how wonderful this country is, even with all it’s flaws. I had to sign a lot of papers, but the perception that it would be difficult to do actually helped me because I thought it was going to be harder than it was. Then I found out, ‘Oh, it’s easier than I thought.’”
“Ethiopian culture is very communal. It’s not individualistic. I learned the concept of space in the U.S. Like, ‘Give me my space.’ In Ethiopia, I can knock on your door and come over at any time and have coffee, and you don’t mind, and I don’t mind. You can sit on my couch and we can talk about the news of the day. It’s absolutely normal. There are people who live with two or three houses together. There are others that are divided by ethnic groups or tribal issues. One of the reasons I want to reach my people is because I want them to see me as an example to teach them that many people from different cultures can come together and do something. One of the great things about America is the perception that people have about America outside of this country. I fear that greatness about America will be lost. When many people leave their country, they don’t want to, but they have economic issues or family issues. It is not because they choose to leave, it is because they have to. I don’t think that people understand that. Especially not the current administration. Checks and balances is the greatness of this country. I think they can solve the problems of immigration.”
“I heard about the MICA Project from a Nepali guy who said they are very helpful. I was still wondering if I wanted to become a citizen, but I called and they really were helpful. I finally decided to become a citizen because of the visa headache and also because of my experience going back home. I realized that I was a misfit. Here, I am becoming more and more American. My wife is American. All the people I work with are American. I always considered myself Ethiopian, but the more I see myself here, I’m part of this country. I am helping the people, so I decided to become a citizen. It surprised me how easy the process is and that is because of MICA’s help. Everything I had heard was that it was very difficult, but they prepared me. The other surprising part is how many Americans really do not know about their country. I feel like sometimes I know more, to be honest. And they don’t always know how wonderful this country is, even with all it’s flaws. I had to sign a lot of papers, but the perception that it would be difficult to do actually helped me because I thought it was going to be harder than it was. Then I found out, ‘Oh, it’s easier than I thought.’”
“Ethiopian culture is very communal. It’s not individualistic. I learned the concept of space in the U.S. Like, ‘Give me my space.’ In Ethiopia, I can knock on your door and come over at any time and have coffee, and you don’t mind, and I don’t mind. You can sit on my couch and we can talk about the news of the day. It’s absolutely normal. There are people who live with two or three houses together. There are others that are divided by ethnic groups or tribal issues. One of the reasons I want to reach my people is because I want them to see me as an example to teach them that many people from different cultures can come together and do something. One of the great things about America is the perception that people have about America outside of this country. I fear that greatness about America will be lost. When many people leave their country, they don’t want to, but they have economic issues or family issues. It is not because they choose to leave, it is because they have to. I don’t think that people understand that. Especially not the current administration. Checks and balances is the greatness of this country. I think they can solve the problems of immigration.”
Close up of Worku smiling at the camera
“What is your biggest need right now?”
“People who can volunteer at least an hour a week to do something in one of our programs. We can always use resources. Financial donations online can help us. People can shop at the Rise Together Retail Shop off of Chippewa. And they can purchase the woodwork we sell through our partnership with Reclaim and Renew.”
“Do you only work with adults or do you work with teenagers too?”
“We work with teenagers, too. When teenagers come to this country as kids it is easier for them to adapt. But if they are in middle school, and they don’t speak English yet, we need to fill that gap. We try to fill that gap for fifth through eighth grade, or most of those kids end up in jail because they come here and they cannot catch up. There is no system in place for them in many public schools right now. The students need to learn the culture, they need to learn English, and the public schools do not have the capacity for all of that. It just breaks my heart. When a kid comes here at that age, they have already grown up some. They are not prepared to go to college. They cannot work in English. If some of their friends are selling drugs or something, they may end up in that, too. Many kids who just got here five or six years ago are in jail or working an entry level job. There’s peer pressure to fit in. The girls get pregnant. So education is key, but it’s very difficult.”
“Out of all of your accomplishments, what are you most proud of?”
“When I see people helping others, like Kashira. Kashira is from Nepal. When he came to the U.S., he did not speak much English. Now his English is perfect because of our program and he is leading the cleaning program. He’s hiring people and everything. We are paying him. It’s his full-time job, and he’s making good money. He knows how to clean, he knows how to supervise, and we kept him. Kashira doesn't need help right now. I’m very proud of the refugees who have moved on, too. I still keep in contact with a lot of them, and seeing them pay it forward is like having a grandchild. My work is not in vain.”
“People who can volunteer at least an hour a week to do something in one of our programs. We can always use resources. Financial donations online can help us. People can shop at the Rise Together Retail Shop off of Chippewa. And they can purchase the woodwork we sell through our partnership with Reclaim and Renew.”
“Do you only work with adults or do you work with teenagers too?”
“We work with teenagers, too. When teenagers come to this country as kids it is easier for them to adapt. But if they are in middle school, and they don’t speak English yet, we need to fill that gap. We try to fill that gap for fifth through eighth grade, or most of those kids end up in jail because they come here and they cannot catch up. There is no system in place for them in many public schools right now. The students need to learn the culture, they need to learn English, and the public schools do not have the capacity for all of that. It just breaks my heart. When a kid comes here at that age, they have already grown up some. They are not prepared to go to college. They cannot work in English. If some of their friends are selling drugs or something, they may end up in that, too. Many kids who just got here five or six years ago are in jail or working an entry level job. There’s peer pressure to fit in. The girls get pregnant. So education is key, but it’s very difficult.”
“Out of all of your accomplishments, what are you most proud of?”
“When I see people helping others, like Kashira. Kashira is from Nepal. When he came to the U.S., he did not speak much English. Now his English is perfect because of our program and he is leading the cleaning program. He’s hiring people and everything. We are paying him. It’s his full-time job, and he’s making good money. He knows how to clean, he knows how to supervise, and we kept him. Kashira doesn't need help right now. I’m very proud of the refugees who have moved on, too. I still keep in contact with a lot of them, and seeing them pay it forward is like having a grandchild. My work is not in vain.”