When warfare came to Rwanda successful the 1990s, United States Air Force 2nd Lt. Jean Bertrand Kalima was lone a child.
He says his household moved distant to flight the violence.
They arrived astatine the Democratic Republic of the Congo, past called Zaire, but the struggle spilled implicit and ultimately
caused different war. Kalima says his household past went to Zambia earlier traveling to Kenya, a state helium would telephone location until helium decided to travel to the United States looking for a amended opportunity.
Kalima precocious became a pupil astatine the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) and is studying to go a subject physician.
“I’m 1 of the fortunate fewer who person the accidental to locomotion into an incoming people astatine USU,” Kalima says. “I’m incredibly grateful.”
Kalima has lived successful the U.S. for 9 years, immigrating successful 2013 to Dayton, Ohio. He says getting a bully acquisition and uncovering a coagulated occupation were some premier motivating factors successful his determination to the U.S.
“There were much opportunities successful the U.S. than successful Kenya — adjacent though I’d grown up successful Kenya,” says Kalima. “… So I thought wherefore not instrumentality a leap of religion and determination to the U.S.?”
A New Country
Kalima admits transitioning to his caller state was comparatively casual and added his archetypal extremity was to decorativeness college.
“I would accidental that it wasn’t a precise hard modulation because, not lone did I cognize the language, but I met immoderate precise fantastic radical astatine Wright State University,” Kalima says. “… I had immoderate precise bully professors who were supportive academically. I would accidental what was difficult, perhaps, was the winter. It was excessively cold.”
Kalima adds wrong a mates of months, it felt similar he’d been surviving successful the U.S. for years.
“I conscionable got utilized to it truly quickly,” Kalima says.
He majored successful accounting and concern but that wasn’t what helium wanted to do.
“I conscionable didn’t consciousness similar it was my calling; I conscionable felt similar determination was thing other that I could do,” Kalima says. “I kept an unfastened caput that later, if things seemed to change, oregon if I felt similar I was gravitating toward thing else, past I should prosecute that.”
Military Medicine
Kalima’s older brother, who works arsenic a doc successful Germany, helped to animate him to privation to prosecute a vocation successful medicine.
“I would ever speech to him and conscionable find it fascinating erstwhile helium explained what helium did, however helium enjoyed it, and for immoderate reason, I conscionable gravitated to radical who were successful medicine,” Kalima says. “It was astonishing because, contempt the fatigue and stressful quality of going done aesculapian school, and of going done residency, they were ever blessed due to the fact that they loved what they were doing.”
He says helium soon grew bushed of sitting astatine a table and moving successful beforehand of a machine having what helium described arsenic essentially, “meetings each hr oregon so, conscionable talking astir spreadsheets.”
The clip to marque a alteration had come.
“Even though my occupation was a truly bully job, and paid good — I conscionable felt similar I needed to marque a determination earlier my adjacent promotion, truthful I decided to fto my brag cognize I was reasoning astir leaving the company,” Kalima says. “At that time, I didn’t adjacent person the prerequisites for aesculapian school.”
Kalima says helium thought moving successful medicine would contiguous him with the accidental to assistance radical erstwhile they were astatine their astir vulnerable.
“(I privation to) assistance them navigate immoderate of these hard questions astir their health, astir beingness — I conscionable felt that was wherever I needed to be,” Kalima says.
In 2019, helium began taking the classes helium needed for his prerequisites and, aft speaking with a person who applied to USU, decided that would beryllium the cleanable acceptable for him.
Kalima applied to respective aesculapian schools but helium dropped everything arsenic soon arsenic helium got a telephone from USU notifying him of his acceptance.
“I thought of it arsenic ‘I got this accidental to travel to the U.S., a accidental to survey astatine ‘the nation’s aesculapian school’ who wouldn’t privation to bash that?” Kalima says. “As idiosyncratic who’d travel and immigrated from a antithetic country? I didn’t person 2nd thoughts. I conscionable went with USU.”
A New Home
Kalima attended the United States Air Force Officer Training School located astatine Maxwell Air Force Base successful Montgomery, Alabama.
“I admired the qualities that I saw successful immoderate of our grooming officers similar discipline,” Kalima says. “Most radical would accidental it was ‘hell’ the archetypal fewer weeks — but it was each for a bully reason: it was to mold america to go amended officers.”
According to Kalima, determination helium learned astir Air Force doctrine, and however to pb others.
“I had a batch of fun. Not lone did I larn much astir the past of the military, the past of the Air Force, but it besides pushed maine to bash things that I ne'er thought I would do,” Kalima says. “My precise archetypal week I got determination they asked maine if I was ‘confident’ and if I said ‘no’ it mightiness not look bully but if I said ‘yes’ I didn’t cognize what was awaiting me. So I conscionable said yes — and they made maine the formation leader.”
Kalima says helium greatly enjoyed the accidental and work of starring a squad of colleagues and gathering caller people.
“That’s wherefore I accidental it was amusive for maine — I met immoderate truly fantastic people,” Kalima says.
He says he’s grateful present for the accidental to be USU’s aesculapian schoolhouse and feels fortunate to beryllium among the university’s caller students.
“It has been an unthinkable past mates of years,” helium says. “I’ve enjoyed, and americium inactive enjoying, my astir 9 years successful the U.S., and I anticipation to proceed enjoying my years present due to the fact that present this is wherever I telephone home.”
English (US)