By F. Amanda Tugade, Wednesday Journal of Oak Park & River Forest - When Rasha Al Hasnawi came to the United States from Iraq, she braced for the long journey ahead. Al Hasnawi, a single mother, grappled with leaving her home country behind, which over time grew to become unfamiliar after the war broke out, but worried about the challenges she would soon face in a new place.“
She needed to rebuild and find a job, a place to live and schools for her children. Al Haswani admitted that her experience as a refugee in the U.S. may have been a tad “easier than most” because she spoke English, but she was still afraid of the change.