When James Sang arrived in the US one November morning in 1991, he had one suitcase containing two pairs of trousers, four shirts, an extra pair of shoes, his documents and about $500 (Sh34,000) in cash.

“I had sold everything I owned in Nairobi. This included a 21-inch colour TV, bed, sofa set, an iron box, some shoes, and a suit. Then I threw away or burnt everything else,” Sang says.

As he sat waiting for a friend to pick him up from the airport that cool windy autumn morning, the nervousness of being in the unknown hit him.

But soon, Sang came to learn what it takes to realise the American dream.

He had left Nairobi to escape the sense of “uselessness” that had taken a hold of him at the United Nations headquarters in Nairobi, where he had worked for two years as a general support staff.

The $500 he carried did not amount to much. He did not have proper documents either, except the air tariff certification from the Kenya Utalii College.

From those ashes of desperation, he built on his dream slowly, counting on the equalising power of education in America’s corporate world, and finally ending up in his current job with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Here, Sang’s main responsibilities are procurement, design, implementation and maintenance of FAA’s IT systems.

“I ensure the systems are compliant with the Federal government laws and directives, such as the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002. The law imposes mandatory steps to be taken to ensure the security of government information systems,” Sang says.

Success in the US, he says, is about skills and focus.

“You may have all the degrees in the world, but if you do not improve your skills through continuing education, you will be on the streets without a job.

“Your job security in corporate America is not who you know, but your skills and performances. Most companies have budgets for human resource development. This ranges from specific certifications to college degrees,” explains Sang.

Take advantage of opportunities

He says it is up to an individual to take advantage of this. Sang says most Kenyans who have succeeded in their careers in the US took advantage of opportunities offered by their employers or the government.”

For instance, his certificate from Utalii College earned him a job with American Express.

At the height of IT boom in 1999-2000, he changed to a career in IT and for two years worked for a major Internet service provider (ISP). The firm operated an Internet backbone system offering Internet services to companies such as America Online and other ISPs.

He later settled down to his current job as an employee of BAE System, a major defence contractor for the US Department of Defence and other government agencies.

Sang’s determination has borne fruit since he won the company’s Outstanding Employee Award for 2006.

He attributes this success to his willingness to improve his skills.

“My company is involved in several projects, including manufacture of all kinds of air, ground, and undersea weapons systems. But my specific contract is with the Federal Aviation Administration,” he says.

Start at the bottom of the ladder

Skills also worked for Dr Richard Kaitany, who left Kenya in 1989 and is currently employed as a Senior Plant Pathologist for the State of Michigan.

“The environment here is more appreciative and rewards people with good skills. Besides, one does not have to follow a politician around or come from the “right tribe” to get a job,” Kaitany said

If he were to return to Kenya, and he wants to do so in the next five years, he believes he would fit in Agriculture, and especially in the area of developing export crops and in meeting the requirements of various foreign markets for plant and plant products.

“My work has changed the way Michigan’s Plant Industry does business and has enabled the State’s agricultural products to maintain their foreign markets,” Dr Kaitany said.

Clearly, it is not always a story of rags-to-more-rags for Kenyans who go to the US and other developed nations.

Amid the desperation that grips them on landing in the foreign lands, many have had to start life afresh, at the bottom of the ladder, only to rise and tell success stories.

“Sometimes, what makes you fail or succeed abroad boils down to who picked you up at the airport on arrival and whom you perceive to be your competitor, says Dr Kefa Otiso, an assistant professor of urban and economic geography at Bowling Green State University in Ohio, US.

Otiso moved to the US a few years ago to complete graduate studies, and settled to the teaching job.

“A sure way to fail is to compete with Kenyans back home while living in the US. People who plough back all their savings and investments in Kenya while living in the US usually get burned because they under-invest in themselves,” Otiso says.

“There is nothing wrong with investing in Kenya or helping people back home as long as you bear in mind that you may end up staying abroad permanently. This will require you to be prepared for life abroad,” he adds.

Kenyans in the US, the don says, should compete with Americans and aspire to rise to the top.

“Competing with Kenyans back home is “a sure path to failure. It does not take much for a Kenyan in the US to do better than the average Kenyan back home.”

Desperate times

Adds Otiso: “Stories abound of Kenyan factory workers in the US who compare themselves to permanent secretaries back home unaware of the long list of privileges the latter enjoy despite their modest income, by American standards.

“Thus, the real measure of success should be doing well by American economic, business and professional standards.”

The professor adds that success also depends a lot on the person who picks you up from the airport. If he or she is focused or successful, chances are that you would borrow a leaf from them and also succeed.

“Simply put, nobody can lead another beyond where he or she has been,” he says.

Both Otiso and Sang agree on one thing: to make it the so-called land of opportunity, you need constant education and a long-term view of life.

“A good education leads to good jobs that gives one a chance to obtain good professional skills and connections that are invaluable even in private business enterprises,” Otiso says.

Continuous improvement of skills worked wonders for Sang.

Before joining Unep in Nairobi, Sang had worked for a number of airlines and travel agencies as a customer service representative, ticket sales staff and airline tariff specialist.

While at Unep, he realised that he needed further education if he was to ever join the “professional” ranks of the UN.

There are two types of employees at the UN: the general support staff, commonly known as GS, and professionals who drive the notable vehicles with red number plates.

He says during his two-year stint at the Gigiri offices, there was hardly any Kenyan in the professional cadre and most locals were in the GS group. Only foreigners enjoyed high salaries and duty-free import of consumer goods.

“This class-based mode of employment was demoralising, which created a feeling of uselessness. The salary of the top-most GS was still much lower than the lowest-ranked professional,” he says.

When Sang went to the US, he lived with a friend for three weeks.

“But this period proved too long for my friend. Before I knew it, he demanded that I seek my own accommodation. The night he threw me out, I slept on a sofa at the lobby of the apartment building. I had absolutely nowhere to go.

“I knew one or two Kenyan friends, but did not have their contacts. I felt desperate; I had been hardly in the US for a month, and things were turning out this way,” Sang says.

He continues: “But I needed to make a decision quickly on whether to go back to my UN job in Nairobi or stick out my neck.” After hiding his suitcase behind the concierge’s desk, he set out in the morning to the Kenyan Embassy, just a few blocks from where he had been living.

For lack of money, Sang decided to walk to the embassy rather than take a taxi. It was a good 45-minute walk.

“As I wound my way through the streets of Washington, I felt humiliated and even ashamed that I was going to ask for help from the embassy.”

The embassy usually advises all Kenyans in the US to register with it, so that in case of an emergency, they can contact them.

Sang had never imagined that he would need help from the embassy.

“In any case, I did not want anything to do with the Kenyan government. I had figured that I would survive on my own. But as I approached the imposing building in Washington’s Embassy Row, I could not exactly figure out the kind of help I would ask for,” he says.

Sang did not know whether to ask for accommodation, a job or something else.

“Here I was, eating humble pie. I stood outside for a moment to admire the Coat of Arms, then strode into the lobby.”

As he sat for some time reading old Kenyan newspapers at the lobby without appearing to be in a hurry, one official strode over to him to enquire if he needed help.

“It was then that I decided to pour out my problems. I narrated to the official that I wanted whatever help I could get.”

After a long silence, the official disappeared into his office and returned a few minutes later. In his hand was a little note with a name scribbled on it.

The official told Sang that the person was his friend, and gave him directions to his house.

That friend happened to be a vendor of Kenyan curios in a shopping mall in another part of the city.

“Even better, the man turned out to be an old friend of mine in Nairobi. You can imagine my relief,” says Sang.

His friend did not waste time but invited Sang to stay with him until he could ‘stand on his own two feet’.

Suddenly, things were looking up and Sang decided to take his chances in the US.

He did not have a job, but he still had his last pay from Unep carefully tucked away.

Sang had arranged with a friend to wire the money to him on request.

“On receiving the money, I gave my friend my portion of the housing expenses, and used the rest to buy a second-hand car. There was very little you could do without a car,” he says.

Within a few days, a new friend he met at a Kenyan bar introduced him to the world of deliveries.

“He arranged a contract for me to deliver everything, from mail, to blood samples in doctors’ offices and medical labs,” says Sang.

He did this for three months, and before long, became an expert in map-reading and delivering goods. Unfortunately, the job took a toll on his health and car. Even though he was earning money, it all went into car repairs. Besides, he was not used to the stress of driving the whole day, sometimes on an empty stomach.

“I had no health insurance, and fatigue was setting in. I felt that a steady 9 to 5 job would be a better option,” says Sang.

Using his airline career certifications from Nairobi, that he still had intact, he applied for every travel-related job advertisement he saw in the newspaper. Eventually, his persistence paid off when he landed an interview with American Express. The firm had just won a contract with the World Bank to service its travel needs.

“Since I was IATA-certified, I had no problem going through the interview successfully and getting the job. Within a few months, the company sponsored my work permit and permanent residency (Green Card).”

So, within one year of arrival, Sang had obtained his green card. He later enrolled in college for an Information systems management program.”

For the next five years, Sang worked for the company in various positions — airline tariff specialist, marketing, and later in IT.

And one positive factor about America contributed to Sang’s success.

“I did not feel less capable than my indigenous American colleagues.

I did not feel that the company treated me any differently from my co-workers.

“In fact, this is where I learnt that corporate America is blind to race, religion, national origins, colour or gender.”

That blindness, Sang says, is reinforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act, which prohibits discrimination in employment based on race, colour, religion, sex or national origin.

With hard work and common sense, Sang says, one is assured of success.

“If you go to the US to study, ensure you complete your education. That is the first step towards a successful life in America. Even if you are past school age, ensure you upgrade your skills,” he says.

He also advises immigrants to update their immigration papers. “In most cases, letting your immigration status lapse is the surest way of consigning yourself to a life of a fugitive. When you are in this situation, opportunities are hard to come and you live in perpetual fear of deportation.”

Sang continues: “Resist the temptation of unnecessary debt. This is the biggest trap people get themselves into. Most of us come from Kenya without sound personal financial skills. Credit is very easy to obtain here. Most credit card companies send you several offers with sweet introductory terms.”

Car companies, department stores, and other entities entice you with very low rates so you can spend money on their goods, he adds.

Many foreigners easily fall into the trap, given that easy credit in their countries of origin was non-existent. But it does not take long before the credit companies switch on their high rates, which sends the hapless individuals into a permanent life of debt.

With that, all their earnings go into repaying debts. Failing to service debts damages one’s records, making it difficult to obtain any other credit facility.

“That vicious circle drives most people into poverty,” Sang says.

On a brighter side, those who avoid such mistakes have higher chances of leading quality life in the US.

Sang says there are many Kenyans who make the right choices, which eventually enhances their living standards.

“They have good jobs, own homes, have children in school and perhaps, some investment portfolio in the stock and bonds markets.

“In my opinion, this is the silent majority of Kenyans who live in the US,” he says.

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