By Andy Furman
NKyTribune reporter
It was a story made for the big screen. As a matter of fact, not only was the audience at Covington’s Radisson Hotel in awe – there weren’t too many dry eyes, either. That’s what 23-year-old Otto – first name only – did when he addressed the Covington Rotary Club earlier this week.
“I live in Cincinnati, but I am from Venezuela,” he told the group. “I have been studying at Northern Kentucky University for about two years and am currently in Level Six of the university’s American English Language Program.”
The American English Language Program is simply NKU’s ESL – English as a second language — according to Francois LeRoy, NKU’s Executive Director for the Center for Global Engagement and International Affairs.
“The Kentucky Humanitarian Assistance Scholarship Program was formed four years ago,” LeRoy told the Northern Kentucky Tribune, “And $10 million was set-aside for displaced individuals in Kentucky to give them a jump-start on their education.”
And Otto took complete advantage of the program.
“I was a Chemical Engineering student at the University of Los Andes in Venezuela. When I was in the fifth-semester, in the half of my career, I had to leave my country.”
Otto – who wanted only his first name used in this story for safety purposes – cited a combination of frustration, resignation and realizing a reality he had not understood.
“I was on a line to get gasoline and in discovered I was wasting my life. Despite Venezuela being the country with the largest oil reserves in the world, my country suffers from fuel scarcity; so, we had to be in a car line for up to seven days, sleeping and eating in the car to be able to refuel.”
Economic problems were another big reason for Otto’s venture to the United States.
“The normal income for eighty-percent of the population was equivalent to approximately five-dollars-a-month,” he said. “Going out to eat at a restaurant on the weekend was a luxury, buying clothes was a luxury, filling the fridge was a luxury — and thinking about buying a car or a house was impossible – only those in the government had money for that.”
He says as a consequence of the terrible economic situation, many teachers left the country, many universities lost students.
“And in four years studying at the university, I was only able to complete four semesters because among all the students, we had to collect extra money to pay the teachers, or we had no classes.
The communist dictatorship for some 25 years was the third reason Otto and family decided to flee Venezuela.
“The president, congress and the army only protect their interests; they have stolen all the country’s money and destroyed freedom, the economy and the prosperity of the country,” he said.
People protested, he said, and when he was 19, he almost died at one.
“I was protesting with some friends, neighbors, family and a lot of people from my city, and a vehicle with black windows came, and armed people pointed a gun at my head and asked me, ‘Do you want to die today?’”
He says he’s still alive today – but wonders why. He left Venezuela three years ago before his visa expired, he explains.
“I didn’t leave because I wanted but because I had no other option. I didn’t have the opportunity to contribute to my country, and that’s what I’m trying to do here.”
When Otto arrived here, he says he worked in a warehouse near Batavia from 3 a.m. till 8 a.m., took his classes at NKU until 2 p.m. and then work till 11 p.m.
The process started again the next day.
“I met someone in that warehouse, who happened to be an NKU student, he told me about the American English Language Program and gave me the information needed to apply.”
“I never thought I would have the opportunity to study in a university in the U.S.,” he says. “I’ve improved my English in general and because of the scholarship I got the last semester, and now I can spend more time in the university, doing my hobbies, and living a normal college life. I am studying finance.”
Ands he’s safe – and not alone.
“There are some 36-40 students now in the NKU American English Program,” LeRoy says.
All looking for that second chance.