A good story about the difficulties immigrants face learning things we all take for granted, like banking. DP
By MEREDITH MANDELL, HERALD NEWS
northjersey.com: PATERSON -- Growing up in a rural province of Haiti, Lavie Metellus said the absence of banks forced him to stuff money under his mattress. Now, after 15 years of working hard in the U.S., Metellus wants to know how he can safeguard his money.
He, along with about dozen other ambitious Haitian immigrants, attended a free seminar Saturday on budget and banking organized by the Haitian Civic Organization of Paterson at the PNC Bank branch at 808 Market St.
In 1992, Metellus escaped Haiti's civil unrest in the wake of a political coup that overthrew the country's president, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He arrived by boat at Guantanamo Bay with nothing more than a small suitcase.
Mettelus, now a Paterson resident, said he hails from the city of Jeremie, where there wasn't a bank nearby to deposit and cash checks.
Metellus, 36, who works in the stock room at Pathmark, said since arriving in the U.S., he has saved $40,000. Now he wants to open a Haitian restaurant and is weighing his financial options.
Be sure to read the rest of this story! This is only a small part of it.
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