Coming to America, my priorities were to go to school, get a job and send remittances to my siblings that were still in Kenya. I applied to numerous positions, but was not successful in getting employment. After three months, I got two part-time job offers. One was a sales associate position at a retail store, and the other was a mentor position at an after-school program. The sales associate position was a weekend position with a better pay. In the after-school program, I had to work during the week. Both positions were almost an hour away from home. I decided to be a mentor. It was my interaction with the students and their parents at the after-school program that I learned about the poor access to health services within the Somali community.
