Iraqi Immigrant Finds Refuge in South Bend

In 2003, Dr. Rose Alyousif fled her home in Iraq with her husband and one-year old-daughter and moved to another country in the Middle East. The couple’s mixed Sunni-Shiite marriage made the family targeted, and they feared for their lives.  

Ten years later, they were resettled in South Bend with their three daughters - ages 5, 8, and 12. Life was way harder than they imagined. In the Middle East, Dr. Alyousif was a physician. But she was not licensed to practice in the United States and could not afford to complete the medical residency needed. The family had to move around. She worked in retail and her husband worked in a factory. “I felt so confused. I didn’t know how to live in America,” she recalls. When someone broke into their home, they even considered returning to Iraq.

Several religious charities stepped in to assist, providing furniture and connecting the family to other resources in South Bend. “I told them, ‘I will show you that I am deserving of your help’” Dr. Alyousif says. In fact, she was able to make an important contribution by filling a need for an Arabic medical interpreter at St Joseph Regional Medical Center- Mishawaka and Memorial Hospital of South Bend. The role also helped her meet medical colleagues, which cultivated a deeper sense of belonging. The key, she learned, was not to “isolate ourselves from the American culture.”   

By 2018, Dr. Alyousif’s new friends recommended her for a job teaching Anatomy and Physiology and Medical Terminology at Ivy Tech Community College, a statewide network of community college campuses. Within a couple of years, Dr. Alyousif was able to further advance and become a professor at Indiana University South Bend, one of the regional campuses of the nationally known Indiana University (IU) system.  

“Every Ramadan, I try to put up a lot of decorations related to the holy month,” she says. “We try to keep our traditional Arabic food, but also engage with the American culture. I try to tell immigrants here, ‘If you decide to stay, you should blend with the culture of the community. When I did it, I achieved success.’”