As I said, I am teaching part time in this spring semester, would be ended in May. The money I receive from teaching can cover my house rent and water bills. The rest expenses, I withdraw from my past savings that I brought from Malaysia, which is about to finish.
This week I am hunting again for all types of
odd jobs but not getting at all due to economic sluggishness. Today I went to few shopping malls and restaurants
for jobs. They told me that they would be contacting me over telephone, meaning that chances of getting the job is slim. Indeed, these companies normally hire teen aged or young girls/boys, not an old person like me, as the job demands some physical actions such as cleaning and washing.
I applied to most of the educational institutes for a full time position. They acknowledged all my applications but at the end of day they disappeared from the radar.
One of the Deans of a Business School emailed me that they received 250 applications against a single post. All applicants are eligible for the post, he mentioned in the email.
Most disadvantage part lies with me that I do not have any US based educational certificate, one of the vital conditions for getting a suitable job.
Current rate of unemployment in USA is stood at almost 9 percent, close to the prevailing rate in Europe. Many US companies have migrated to India and China together with jobs in quest of lower labor cost.
The United States of America is suitable for computer oriented people, not a person like me.
So what I should do now ? Should I stay or leave the country ? Leaving the USA would not be a solution as
Maria likes her teacher, particularly the school.
Komol is preparing for her qualifying exam, so she should not be disturbed. Personally I like Dallas too due to chilly weather,
Oak trees and sweat smell in the air.
In this situation, if I go back to Bangladesh, I can stay there happily as my parents have left a place for me to stay. I can also work there as lots of private universities are operating there. Thanks God I have at least one place to stay as millions over there do not have any. So I should not complain about life.
But going back to pavilion would not bring a solution especially after spending one year in Texas. I need to find out ways to survive.
I need $2K monthly to have a minimum decent life. How do I spend this $2K each month?
House rent : $ 865, Water $ 50, Internet : $30, Power $ 130, Car insurance $ 50, Telephone $ 100, Food $ 500 etc. This is a typical expenses for a family of three in the United States.
Luckily,
US Federal and
State Govt are jointly supporting
Maria's health and education, otherwise we would have left the country many days ago as the cost involved in these two sectors is unbearable by the the low income group in the United States. I would say, most of the poor children would have died if the US Govt did not share medical expenses. As said, 13-17 percent of the population are living below the poverty line in USA and I am one of them as per the poverty measurement guideline.
In this regard, I would like to recollect my memory about a book that I read while being in Malaysia. The book contains all the letters of Poet
Modhusudan Dutta, during the period when the poet brought his family to London to study law. During his stay in London, the poet faced hardship due to lack of financial support to maintain his family and study. In his letters, written to friends, he expressed all his agony and challenges, he encountered from financial scarcity. The poet wrote most of his letters to
Isharchandra Biddashagor, an outstanding personality in this contemporary world. I learned a lot from his letters so do
Komol. But the promising news is that at the end of the day, poet got his law degree and returned to India after all these struggles.
Although I am passing through uncertainty, I am not regretting as the situation is helping me to know how to get things managed in the rainy days.
Komol and
Maria are also learning, helping them to get prepared for the future challenges.
Only we can learn, when hardship and scarcity appear in life. I want to fight back again and again in the midst of clouds and fogs. Hoping that a light will be appeared at the end of the tunnel eventually. I would like to remember the holy scripture,
Even if you ask the mountain to move, it will, if you have the faith.
Whenever I walk in the street, God smiles at me to see my condition.
She probably says,
I want to see how long you survive in this way.
As long as You want, I reply in my heart.
Yes, that is the answer, She smiles.
As I said before, I am not good at writing English. So please read my article with caution.
Do you think I am wring something gloomy? No, it is not. I am hopeful one day I will overcome all. If
Columbus could round the world with an wooden ship, I can also run my family.
You can see a symbol of poverty in my SLR camera. I put high
shutter speed to enhance the sharpness of the picture.
