For the past year, I have lived in a small apartment in a corner of Vickery Meadow, one of Dallas’ most diverse neighborhoods. Walking the streets of Vickery Meadow reveals dozens of apartment complexes and ethnic restaurants, signs of the neighborhood’s large immigrant community: 33.1% of the population immigrated from another country (U.S. Census Bureau). This semester, in an attempt to learn more about my neighbors, I interviewed three people who help capture what life in Vickery Meadow is like. Here are pieces of their stories.
Anil Lama Pakhrin’s Ticket to Dallas
Anil Lama Pakhrin won the lottery in 2013, and it changed his life.
But Pakhrin hadn’t scratched off a lottery ticket from a kiosk or won a million dollars. Instead, he won the Electronic Diversity Visa Lottery in his third year of entering. With his Diversity Visa in hand, Pakhrin immigrated to the United States on June 25th, 2013.
“Nepal is my country,” explained Pakhrin. “Kathmandu is my birthplace.”
When Pakhrin arrived in northeast Dallas, he met his aunt and uncle to begin his new life. One struggle was the language barrier. Pakhrin spoke only a little English.
“I could explain, but I was not fluent, and I could speak only the simple words,” said Pakhrin, who also speaks Nepali and the Lama language, Tamang.
Despite the challenges, he immediately found a job in an Indian restaurant, and four months later, he moved to his current job at Dante’s Italian Eatery. Work provided Pakhrin with a community; he made friends with his coworkers, who also came from Nepal.
“Except that, I don’t know any people,” Pahkrin said. But even though he isn’t close with his neighbors, he likes his apartment, which he describes as, “very good, safe, quiet” with “good facilities, amenities, a good park.”
Vickery Meadow has been Pakhrin’s home for almost seven years. He lives with his wife and two daughters, and his older daughter attends Dan D. Rogers Elementary School. His younger daughter, an adorable toddler, hangs onto his hand while Pahkrin explains how one lottery gave him a whole new world of opportunities.
Ana Lopez: Literacy Achieves’ Star Student
Across the street from Ana Lopez’s brand-new American apartment, she saw a school. She didn’t yet know that she would spend six years learning English there, or how much she would love it.
Lopez and her husband moved from Zacatecas, Mexico to Vickery Meadow in Dallas 13 years ago.
“I moved here because I was looking for better opportunities for jobs, better education for my family,” Lopez said. “This is a good country for this.”
But when she arrived, she discovered how difficult communication would be. Her husband spoke a little English, but Lopez knew almost nothing.
“It was very, very hard for me,” she said, reminiscing about that time: “We can’t communicate, we can’t say anything, we can’t read anything, we can’t express anything.”
The school across the street, Literacy Achieves, changed things for Lopez. When she first began attending English-speaking classes, she was placed in Level 1A, the beginner level. Over six years, Lopez has worked her way up to Level 4, the advanced class, and her English rolls off her tongue.
“This is my second home right here,” Lopez said, looking around the small classroom from her front-row desk. “I feel fantastic when I am here because all the teachers…they are fantastic. I am glad to stay in this school.”
During class, Lopez always had an answer ready. Her English teacher, Stephanie Haley, called her a star student.
“If she ever leaves, I have to quit,” joked Haley.
Lopez proudly explained that her sons, who were born in the United States and who now attend Sam Tasby Middle School, are also bilingual. The family now speaks both Spanish and English, and laughing, Lopez recounts trying to convince her husband to attend Literacy Achieves with her. He isn’t on board yet, but like countless other students, the school has helped Lopez in indescribable ways.
English Major Alumni Finds Her Calling
In her twenty-three years of teaching English as a second language (ESL), Stephanie Haley has countless happy stories. In one of her favorite memories, she asked the class if they had anything they wanted to share, and a student named Maria shot her hand in the air.
“She said, ‘Saturday, take my son to hospital,’” Haley recounted. “‘They say, want interpreter? I say, no! I talk all by myself.’”
Maria’s pride in her English skills made Haley smile. She originally got into teaching ESL as a way to share the English major she earned from Southern Methodist University with the Dallas community.
Her oldest child was well into high school, and “not needing or wanting much attention,” as Haley put it, so she had time on her hands to start teaching. Then a new minister came to her church, Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church. The minister, Blair Monie, wanted the church to have a flagship mission.
So Haley and others began to look into Vickery Meadow and how many of its residents weren’t as fluent in English as they wanted to be.
“It was just staggering,” Haley said. “And not very many places for them to learn.”
So Haley and her church started Literacy Achieves, originally called the Vickery Meadow Learning Center, in a small house on Peak Street. Next door, a drug shack housed questionable people, so after a struggle, Literacy Achieves purchased that property as well. They began to teach ESL classes in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings.
“It is such a pleasure to meet these people,” said Haley.
Haley now teaches a Tuesday morning advanced class every week, and she has found her students warm and encouraging. While she’s teaching, the smile never leaves her face. To anyone peeking inside Haley’s classroom, it would seem that every learning day is a happy memory.
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Hilltopics 
For the past year, I have lived in a small apartment in a corner of Vickery Meadow, one of Dallas’ most diverse neighborhoods. Walking the streets of Vickery Meadow reveals dozens of apartment complexes and ethnic restaurants, signs of the neighborhood’s large immigrant community: 33.1% of the population immigrated from another country (U.S. Census Bureau). This semester, in an attempt to learn more about my neighbors, I interviewed three people who help capture what life in Vickery Meadow is like. Here are pieces of their stories.
Anil Lama Pakhrin’s Ticket to Dallas
Anil Lama Pakhrin won the lottery in 2013, and it changed his life.
But Pakhrin hadn’t scratched off a lottery ticket from a kiosk or won a million dollars. Instead, he won the Electronic Diversity Visa Lottery in his third year of entering. With his Diversity Visa in hand, Pakhrin immigrated to the United States on June 25th, 2013.
When Pakhrin arrived in northeast Dallas, he met his aunt and uncle to begin his new life. One struggle was the language barrier. Pakhrin spoke only a little English.
“I could explain, but I was not fluent, and I could speak only the simple words,” said Pakhrin, who also speaks Nepali and the Lama language, Tamang.
Despite the challenges, he immediately found a job in an Indian restaurant, and four months later, he moved to his current job at Dante’s Italian Eatery. Work provided Pakhrin with a community; he made friends with his coworkers, who also came from Nepal.
“Except that, I don’t know any people,” Pahkrin said. But even though he isn’t close with his neighbors, he likes his apartment, which he describes as, “very good, safe, quiet” with “good facilities, amenities, a good park.”
Vickery Meadow has been Pakhrin’s home for almost seven years. He lives with his wife and two daughters, and his older daughter attends Dan D. Rogers Elementary School. His younger daughter, an adorable toddler, hangs onto his hand while Pahkrin explains how one lottery gave him a whole new world of opportunities.
Ana Lopez: Literacy Achieves’ Star Student
Across the street from Ana Lopez’s brand-new American apartment, she saw a school. She didn’t yet know that she would spend six years learning English there, or how much she would love it.
Lopez and her husband moved from Zacatecas, Mexico to Vickery Meadow in Dallas 13 years ago.
But when she arrived, she discovered how difficult communication would be. Her husband spoke a little English, but Lopez knew almost nothing.
“It was very, very hard for me,” she said, reminiscing about that time: “We can’t communicate, we can’t say anything, we can’t read anything, we can’t express anything.”
The school across the street, Literacy Achieves, changed things for Lopez. When she first began attending English-speaking classes, she was placed in Level 1A, the beginner level. Over six years, Lopez has worked her way up to Level 4, the advanced class, and her English rolls off her tongue.
“This is my second home right here,” Lopez said, looking around the small classroom from her front-row desk. “I feel fantastic when I am here because all the teachers…they are fantastic. I am glad to stay in this school.”
During class, Lopez always had an answer ready. Her English teacher, Stephanie Haley, called her a star student.
“If she ever leaves, I have to quit,” joked Haley.
Lopez proudly explained that her sons, who were born in the United States and who now attend Sam Tasby Middle School, are also bilingual. The family now speaks both Spanish and English, and laughing, Lopez recounts trying to convince her husband to attend Literacy Achieves with her. He isn’t on board yet, but like countless other students, the school has helped Lopez in indescribable ways.
English Major Alumni Finds Her Calling
In her twenty-three years of teaching English as a second language (ESL), Stephanie Haley has countless happy stories. In one of her favorite memories, she asked the class if they had anything they wanted to share, and a student named Maria shot her hand in the air.
“She said, ‘Saturday, take my son to hospital,’” Haley recounted. “‘They say, want interpreter? I say, no! I talk all by myself.’”
Her oldest child was well into high school, and “not needing or wanting much attention,” as Haley put it, so she had time on her hands to start teaching. Then a new minister came to her church, Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church. The minister, Blair Monie, wanted the church to have a flagship mission.
So Haley and others began to look into Vickery Meadow and how many of its residents weren’t as fluent in English as they wanted to be.
“It was just staggering,” Haley said. “And not very many places for them to learn.”
So Haley and her church started Literacy Achieves, originally called the Vickery Meadow Learning Center, in a small house on Peak Street. Next door, a drug shack housed questionable people, so after a struggle, Literacy Achieves purchased that property as well. They began to teach ESL classes in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings.
“It is such a pleasure to meet these people,” said Haley.
Haley now teaches a Tuesday morning advanced class every week, and she has found her students warm and encouraging. While she’s teaching, the smile never leaves her face. To anyone peeking inside Haley’s classroom, it would seem that every learning day is a happy memory.
Help amplify the voice of the students. Share this: