Welcome Elisee to America!

Hi, my name is Colin.

In 2017 I left the US to participate in what would become a life-changing public health internship in a small town in the northwest corner of Cameroon. Tired, nervous, lost, and with no idea what to expect, I landed in Douala after 36 hours of traveling and quickly found a young man waiting for me, ready to pick me up: Elisee Tchuisseu.

Elisee was an unoffical, yet critical, member of the intern organization. He was a transportation arranger, translator, street guide, food guide, market haggler, and occasional roomate for interns who missed the last bus of the night to the other side of town. In other words, Elisee was our fixer. So perhups unsurprisingly, in his spare time he also had a side hustle as a small electronic repair man, fully equipped with soldering tools, electric probes, and all sorts of other instruments this author does not have names for.

Elisee dreamed of owning an electronics supply and repair shop, and in late 2019 he began to make that a reality by purchasing a storefront and initial stock with his life's savings. The business was slow but steady for the first few months, but hard times struck in 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic making it impossible to buy new electronics and creating high unemployment within the country. Tragedy struck again in 2021 and 2022, when Elisee and his father faced back-to-back medical ailments that required him to sell what was left of his business to cover medical expenses. Left with little money in his pocket and virtually no way to make an income, in late 2022 Elisee took the biggest risk of his life by selling all that he owned and securing a route to US as a refugee of the Cameroon Anglophone Crisis.

Expecting to arrive in the US in January 2023, Elisee will be starting over again with very little to his name. Help me get Elisee back on his. Shelter will be initially provided, but he needs help with everything else:

Once he gets the tools to start repairing electronics again, he has promised free phone repairs in return to anyone who dontates to over $50 to him here.

Any and all help will be appreciated, but if anyone has experience with recent immigrant or refugee arrivals and can help guide both Elisee and me in this process, please contact me.

Thank you all!!!

Elisee and Colin