Aref

I immigrated to this country with my family from Saudi Arabia in 2016 as an asylum/refugee.

I am a citizen of Sudan but lived in Saudi Arabia for most of my life. I was forced to leave Saudi Arabia because my family was threatened indirectly by the government new rules. My brother was a successful person in business and wasn’t Saudi. His business threatened Saudi competitors so he was put in jail with no consideration to all that years we had spend in that country. I felt my whole family was at risk and had to leave the country.

I came directly to San Francisco and started supporting myself & family by driving for Lyft. However, I had a dream of owning my own restaurant since I was a student in India where I earned my degree and a Master Degree in Finance. At that time, I started a restaurant with my brothers, which was very successful. I knew this was a talent of mine and I wanted to develop it in the future.

Luckily I met Abdul, who is a KIVA borrower and who operates Yemeni Kitchen in San Francisco’s Tenderloin. He presented me with an opportunity to run another restaurant in this neighborhood which will be the first Sudanese authentic Café in the Bay Area.