Nur Fatema Nor Bashar had a lot of instability in her early life, but she persevered through the difficulties. Now, her family finally have created a new home in the United States.

Nur Fatema was born in Maungdaw, a town in Rakhine State (Arakan State), in the western part of Myanmar, very close to the Bangladesh border. There she lived with her mother, as her father left for Malaysia when she was very young and was not able to return. She and her mother fled to Bangladesh to be with her mother’s family before finally moving to Malaysia to join her father.

While Nur Fatema started school in Malaysia, it was very expensive, and she had to stop going. Committed to having Nur Fatema and her three siblings obtain an education, her parents pursued immigrating to the US with the help of the United Nations. When they arrived in America it was very hard because her family did not speak English.

When she started school, she was excited but nervous. Her ESL teacher introduced to her others who were also learning English. She has friends at school and her family has a Rohingya community of friends who they celebrate holidays and special events with. She is thankful to live with her family in Milwaukee and hopes to become a nurse.