Forms part of The Immigrant Story.
Collection is open for research.
Gift of The Immigrant Story, February 2021 (Lib. Acc. RL2021-009).
Johana Amani was born near Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo, in 2000. Her parents divorced soon after. After years of abuse from her father and other male relatives, Amani and her sister were taken by their mother to Rwanda in 2010. They soon relocated to Kenya, where they lived for six years until their application for asylum in the United States was accepted. In 2016, they were resettled in Portland, Oregon. Johana Amani attended the University of Oregon, where she majored in international development.
Oral history interview with Johana Amani, by Sankar Raman, SR 12295, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
This oral history interview with Johana Amani was conducted by Sankar Raman and Julianna Robidoux on March 13, 2019. The interview was recorded for The Immigrant Story, an organization that documents and archives the stories of immigrants and refugees in the United States.
In this interview, Amani discusses her family background and early life in the Democratic Republic of Congo, including her parents' divorce, the abuse she suffered as a child, and her education. She then describes her escape to Rwanda with her mother and sister. She shares her memories of life in Rwanda. She talks about relocating to Kenya and her life there, including her education and learning English and Swahili. She discusses the process of applying for asylum in the United States and adjusting to life in Portland, Oregon, in 2016. She talks about her education in Portland, including continuing to learn English, teachers that supported her, and classes that she took. She also describes finding resources to afford housing. She talks about her interest in engineering and architecture, as well as gender roles in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She closes the interview by discussing her hopes and plans for the future, as well as her involvement with the Africa House Youth Council.
Joint copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society and The Immigrant Story. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted,
An article about Johana Amani, "The Architect of Her Own Future" by Julianna Robidoux, was based on this interview and published on The Immigrant Story website at