A New Place

Eunice Adou, a woman who devotes her time to helping others, has experienced hardship through language and cultural barriers, but has found solace in the welcoming Buffalonian atmosphere and her ability to share her culture.

Although she was born in Cote D'Ivoire, Eunice has been living in the US since she was nine years old. Her parents came here to open churches as her dad felt called to open up a church in the US to help other immigrants from French-speaking countries. With this mission in mind, they landed at JFK on a cold winter day in New York. It was February 29th; she remembered it so clearly, leaving on February 28th and arriving on the 29th. The minute they got out of the airport, they went back in to wait for the carpool. 

It has been interesting growing up in a different country, learning English, and experiencing new food and ways of life. The language barrier was among the early challenges. Eunice remembers going to ESL classes, listening to the person on the tape and repeating, trying to make sense of things in another language and then the culture. Everything down to the school system was completely different from back home. 

Still, Eunice asserts,“It has been good. There have been some ups and downs and challenges, but you know, here I am today.” 

Growing up, Eunice moved around with her parents frequently. They lived in Maryland for a year, then New York City for five years or so, and then on to a small town in Pennsylvania where she attended high school. From there, she went to college while her parents continued to travel throughout the U.S. due to their work with the ministry. They were in Boston, then Wisconsin and more, before returning to New York. In that regard, Eunice views her life and that of her parents as “a journey.” 

Wherever she was, food always connected Eunice to home. Within her native cuisine, plantains are a staple, “you can fry, or boil and pound it, called fufu.” She also cooks rice with different kinds of stew such as peanut or a palm nut. At the same time, Eunice often combines American-style cooking with Ghanaian ingredients. Through this, she brings a little piece of home here to make her stew. With many different cultural stores in the city, Eunice remarks, “you can find certain things from back home here, which makes it so comforting.” 

In that sense, Eunice feels comfortable living abroad because of the opportunities it provides to explore and the resources available to her. “You know you can acquire these things. You will find oh that is sold here! It’s just wonderful.”

Still, Eunice finds herself in the process of balancing between both cultures, both worlds. “Where I come from, we are a very family culture,” she says. This strong sense of community is put in stark relief with the American tendency to keep to themselves that she has noticed. However, Eunice sees aspects of her home culture within Buffalo. As such, she appreciates that people here are always willing to help one another. “It does not matter where you come from. They are very open to wanting to help you to integrate into the community.” 

Through the help of others and the skills she’s gained, Eunice has learned how to handle different situations and different people along the way. Still, integration has no definite end point, and Eunice notes that “it is good, but it is still challenging sometimes.”

Like most immigrants, Eunice describes her life here in the US as a learning curve. Things like needing a coat and indoor heating during winter can be a jarring adjustment for someone who has lived their life in a country with weather akin to the tropical temperatures of Florida. 

Consequently, Eunice believes that many new immigrants lack access to resources regarding topics like building credit, moving to a new house, transportation outside of metropolitan areas, school activities for children, finding a religious congregation, and more. Knowing the struggles new immigrants face, Eunice offers to help whenever she sees anyone in need. Through these acts of kindness, she believes that everyone can work to build a welcoming community for immigrants and beyond. 



Reflecting on her commitment to outreach, Eunice argues that knowing that “we have been through this, we can do this, we also offer our help to others. It is about being open and being there for each other.”