CHARLOTTE — Fortine Masambeta is achieving his dreams while being a role model for his brothers and sister.
None of it would have been possible if he was still a refugee in South Africa, he says.
“Working as an engineer and having my family here means the world to me,” he says. “It is a dream come true. Everything I didn’t have in South Africa, I have it here. I couldn’t get opportunities in my field in South Africa. When I got here, I got them.
“With my family, life wasn’t easy because of financial problems. It means a lot to me to have what we have now. I’m grateful. This is what I wanted from the start, and I’m getting it.”
Welcomed by Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte in 2017, Masambeta is sharing his story as World Refugee Day is celebrated.
To mark the day, Charlotte will hold a cultural celebration from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 22, at the Galilee Center, located at 3601 Central Ave. The free festival includes performances, activities, information and food from the diverse populations that arrived as refugees and now call Charlotte home.
Since the 1990s, Charlotte has become home to about 17,000 refugees from more than 50 countries.
World Refugee Day is to celebrate refugee resilience and raise awareness of their presence on local and international stages. It is observed annually on June 20.
Masambeta, now 25, was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, but his family fled in search of peace when he was just a child.
He completed a mechanical engineering degree in South Africa, but some of his credits didn’t transfer to the United States. Catholic Charities’ Refugee Resettlement Office helped him enroll at Central Piedmont Community College to complete his degree.
An employment specialist worked with him on his resumé and applying for internships. He is currently completing a paid internship with Keller USA.
“As a design intern, I draft whatever they ask of me. From a steel table to something complicated with wiring,” he says. “I’m really enjoying it.”
Being a refugee in South Africa was challenging for Masambeta and his family.
“I wouldn’t say it was a good life,” he says. “There were good things happening, and there were a lot of bad things happening. I was denied opportunities because I was a refugee and discriminated against.”
His family struggled financially, Masambeta explains, as jobs for refugees were hard to come by.
“You have to hustle to make money, which isn’t easy,” he says.
Masambeta says it also wasn’t easy to leave his family behind in 2017 to come to Charlotte, but he was excited to come to the “land of opportunity.” His parents, three brothers and one sister were able to seek asylum in the United States in May 2018, although they were settled in Connecticut. The family was reunited in January, and Masambeta was able to bring them all to Charlotte, where they live together again.
“It’s exciting. The whole time, I didn’t have peace until they came,” he says. “When my family came, it was like 10 times better.”
His siblings are attending local high and middle schools, and Masambeta says he hopes he can be a good role model for them as they decide their futures.
“They will have opportunities as they move forward as well,” he says. “I believe they can have the world, too. My younger brothers are looking at me. If I can do it, they can do it.”
Compared to his refugee experience in South Africa, Masambeta says he’s been treated very well in Charlotte.
“Catholic Charities made sure we had a place to live and made sure we have a job. Even if it was not what we wanted in the first place, it’s a job to get you started,” he explains.
Now that he and his family are together, Masambeta says he is most excited to start his chosen career.
“I wanted to be an engineer,” he says. “This is the right way. I’m going to school and getting experience. There’s nothing more exciting than that.”
— Kimberly Bender, online reporter
More online
At www.ccdoc.org/services/refugee-language: Learn more about Catholic Charities Diocese of Charlotte’s resources for refugees