Stories That Move Us showcases true-life tales of immigrant women

Written by Daria Kurdyukova

Athena Cortez shares a story.

“What makes you feel like a New Yorker?”

Arielle Kandel, founder and director of New Women New Yorkers, posed this question to a group of young immigrant women sharing their stories at a live event of the nonprofit on July 25 at LMHQ in Lower Manhattan.

“I feel like a New Yorker when I see naked artists in Times Square,” said one young woman. “When I rush even if I don’t need to,” said another. “When tourists ask me for directions and I am able to give them the right instructions,” responded another.

Arielle Kandel speaks to the audience.

The answers, while very different from one another, all rang true to the crowd of locals in attendance. As a New Yorker, you always walk fast, even if you have time to spare. You walk and drink your coffee or tea. After a certain amount of time has passed, you can explain directions to tourists.

Your life changes when you move here and start a new stage of your journey; each stage that follows brings new joys and challenges. The storytelling event was held, in part, to celebrate each young woman’s journey. Arielle began the evening by describing how important this last year has been to her because of her daughter’s birth, and recognized it had not always been easy to balance her professional life with her role as a new mom. Arielle then expressed her thanks for each person who contributed time and talents to NWNY.

After that, Arielle introduced Nisha Agarwal, an accomplished public interest lawyer and the Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. Smiling as she took the stage, Nisha expressed how happy she was to be attending the event and to be celebrating diversity by hearing stories of immigrant women. “New Women New Yorkers is a powerful organization using storytelling as a force for telling stories of immigrant women, but it also helps with developing career skills,” she said.

Nisha Agarwal, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, spoke during the event.

Nisha then explained that the mission of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs is to advance programs and policies and improve the wellbeing of immigrant families. She told the crowd how inspiring it felt to be in a room where immigrant women of different backgrounds could speak out and share their stories and challenges. “It’s very important for the city to hear these stories, and we can help further these immigrant women,” added Nisha.

A few minutes later, the eight storytellers took to the stage one by one and told the audience their true stories. Each woman was from a different country, and had graduated from NWNY’s LEAD program and participated in a storytelling workshop series led by NWNY and storytelling nonprofit The Moth. As the show progressed, the audience experienced different emotions. Some stories made the crowd laugh, while others were suspenseful or deeply touching.

The audience listens to storyteller Ana Luiza Mano.

One particular story reminded me of my own journey. Told by a young Russian immigrant named Anna, the story was an adventure that at times felt like a fairytale:

“It’s midnight. I am sitting in my room and watching a movie featuring Leonardo DiCaprio. I’d moved to Los Angeles from Russia a few months earlier. I felt very miserable and depressed. I was living with two crazy roommates. One was a guy who was dealing with all kinds of drugs. The second person was a girl. We were sharing a room. No work, no English, no friends. This girl was selling her body and pushing me to do the same. I was thinking that I moved from the beautiful city of Saint Petersburg in Russia, I left my family and friends, and I have my Master’s degree. There is a better future for me.”

While she was watching the movie, in which Leonardo DiCaprio is living on an island, the word “island” began running through Anna’s mind. She went online and bought a one-way ticket to Hawaii.

Everybody in the crowd was immersed in the story and trying to catch every word. They expected to hear about an adventure in Hawaii. Anna continued telling her story, which turned into a nightmare for a moment:

“The next day I am in Hawaii. It’s my birthday. I see the ocean and mountains. It’s so beautiful. I had to find a place to live. I was on a beach when I met a guy who offered to rent me his place for a few months. It’s getting dark and I am in his car going somewhere. I see the gate, forest, and no house. Where is the house?”Anna ultimately had a great experience in Hawaii, even though she had to live in a mango treehouse. She improved her English, found a job, made friends, and everything finally turned out well for her.

The atmosphere of the storytelling event was so friendly and nice. Guests enjoyed not only amazing stories of immigrant women, but also delicious food prepared by refugee chefs of Eat Offbeat, an open bar, and an exclusive silent auction with gift cards from Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, Carnegie Hall, Sleep No More, Brooklyn Academy of Music, as well as vacation packages and art.

NWNY is soon turning three years old. What Arielle envisions for NWNY is to become the main resource, training, and community center for newly arrived young immigrant women in NYC. She hopes they will turn to NWNY to find whatever support they might need to achieve their goals in this city.

Stories That Move Us was made possible through the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation’s Grassroots Initiative program.