"People need to learn some English before they can get a job," Tamene says. "Only a few of our people run their own businesses, so we must go out of our community for jobs."
Tamene divides the Ethiopians who immigrate to Cambridge into two categories.
One group--pressured to support family members who have remained in Ethiopia--must begin work immediately.
"It's difficult," Tamene says. "We have to tell them that this should not be their ultimate goal, as individuals."
The other group comes from Ethiopia highly qualified. Some were engineers, Tamane says, some were doctors.
It's even more painful for these people, Tamene says.
"It's hard for them to forget their credentials, to take a job cleaning right away," Tamene says. "Sometimes, I think it's better to come here without any experience at all."
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