The unfinished fence and a long story behind it

Migration is no longer a new term nowadays as many people move to another country and they don’t move for the same reasons. Some people move because they have gotten better jobs, some want to change their lifestyles or some want to reunite with their families. For whatever reason, living in a country with total different cultural background and a foreign language is definitely not an easy thing to adapt to. Moreover, those migrants also face many problems in dealing with new life, new people and new environment. New Zealand is one of the countries with high migration rates and there are so many stories told by people in New Zealand, which is based on their own immigration experience and they remind us that all New Zealanders have a migration story somewhere in thepast. 

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The unfinished fence
The story is about a Fijian man named Jimi, who came to New Zealand to work even though he was on his three-month tourist visa. The first impression about this man is that he was a devoted family man, who tried to work hard and earn money to send back home. Moreover, he was also a loving husband and a good father as he always thought of his wife and his two children, "he replied to every latter she wrote, always mentioning how much he missed her and how much he longed to return. His wife's letter were his only consolation in an unfriendly country". His sentiment about the new place was possibly based on his dull work schedule ("began at eight o'clock and ended at five, Mondays to Fridays"), his loneliness because he had no close friends or family here but this is a typical things that happens a lot to immigrants, who move to a foreign country where everything is so strange and unfamiliar to them.

The main purpose for them to come here is to work and get the money to send back home, where the living condition is not as good as it in the new place and they think that they can overcome any difficulties to reach the goals they set but sometimes, it’s extremely hard to live by themselves in a new place, surrounded with “strange and indifferent people”, as Jimi had wondered “What if he died while walking on the street! Would someone pick him up? The people all seemed so impersonal to him…” Immigrants like Jimi, especially people who do not have any relatives or family being by their sides in a strange place, always worry about things like that. They worry about getting sick with no one taking care of them and most of all, they worry about getting accidents and dying alone. It's so scary just thinking about it because as a human being, we always want to spend our last moments of our lives in a familiar place with our beloved people around us. No one would ever want to die alone, unless they have to.
Everything here is just so different to Jimi. He felt sorry for Mrs Davidson, the old lady who lived alone on her own and she was also Jimi's employer. While "money she had lots of", she "lived alone in her huge and lonely mansion" because her husband died in the Navy and her children "preferred to live miles away" and "satisfied by sending her money every two weeks". To a man with strong relationship with his wife and children and who has a close-knit family like Jimi, it's obviously hard to understand how people have money but still be lonely. It may be called the culture shock when someone comes to a country with total different cultural background and they find it hard to adapt to it quickly. It may be the way people here they do for a very long time but to Jimi, leaving a mother living alone on her own is something that seems hard to accept. And Jimi somehow was a person who made Mrs. Davidson felt less lonely as he talked to her, had morning tea as "she found a sympathetic ear in Jimi and they often talked for hours". We can see Jimi as a kind man with a good heart as he did things for Mrs. Davidson not only for getting paid but also for making the old lady feel good. Part of his job was to collect the old lady's mail but "Jimi enjoyed doing this because he loved to watch the expression on Mrs. Davidson's face, and he loved to think that he was partly responsible for the happiness of this old lady". This is the excerpt I like the most in the story as it brings the warm affection to the readers seeing the bond between two people from two different countries, two different cultures but they take care of and help each other out.

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Jimi's story and thoughts remind me of the stories of my fellas, who used to overstay in a foreign country. They told me about their constant worries of getting caught by the police, of being deported and they live every day in the fear of being found out by the authorities and finally being sent back to their home country. Homesickness and the loneliness are not the only things they have to face.They could never be able to truly enjoy their time, mainly because they are always haunted by the fears. They do not harm anybody, but well, at the end, overstaying is illegal and no one is going to protect them if they are found out so they always have to live in the shadow, which is never easy. They have no healthcare. They are underpaid at work. They have to be careful every time someone asks them for their ID. I was thinking to myself "What kind of life is that? When you always have to live in fears and never have your real freedom?" But then I realized, not everyone is as lucky as I am, to be a legal resident in a foreign country. Feeling free to reveal who they are is a luxurious thing that sometimes they have to get with a high price.
And that was what happened to Jimi.
"Jimi stumbled up his steps. He got the key from his pocket, pushed the door and slammed it hard. He leaned on the door, panting.His knees shook; he slumped on a chair". 
At that time...
"He felt a strong urge to relieve himself" and "His mind, his senses seemed to have come alive". This was the moment for him to make a decision. "Jimi jumped".
We never find out about the end of the story to see whether Jimi was caught by those three men or he can escape from their chase but apparently, Jimi will face many difficulties in both situations. If he got caught, he would definitely be deported back to the place he had come from. If he escaped successfully then his days ahead will be buried in fears and insecurities as he knew the police was always searching for him.

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Even though it's quite a short story with not so many details but it does say a lot about a man's thoughts, feelings and things happened to him when he newly migrated in a country where everything seemed so unfamiliar and everybody was indifferent to him. The story makes me think about many people out there, who are living in a strange country with no family and relatives, who are struggling every single day to make ends meet with the dream that they somehow could help their family out or bring their children a better life.
And I truly hope that one day, all the men like Jimi will find the way to be legally accepted by the country then they can work and never need to worry about hiding or running away from police and the authorities.