Amina (right), who started training in January, arrived with her family in Providence in May of 2016 via the Yemeni refugee camp where she grew up. She was recommended to our program to overcome shyness which employers can interpret as low confidence. She has enough schooling to read and write Arabic, and speaks Somali and some English (at barely audible levels). Perhaps because she’s the oldest of 5, she welcomes responsibilities and from the start was a pro at making granola bars.
Amina told me (via interpreter) that she wants to be a doctor for children, or work with computers on programs to help non-English speakers. When I suggested that she might have been scared to start working, she set me straight: “Just shy, not scared.”
Clearly she is a thinker. When I asked what she would want others to know about her she said, “That I am a good person, that I watch my time. I am always thinking to the future and pushing through [any barriers].”
