Trainees

Born in Kulumbi, DRC, Elelwa had childhood goals for a better life. She went to school until 6th grade, then started work at 12. When she was 19, men came to her house and killed her brother-in-law. Her husband jumped out of the window and she ran with her 1 month old in her arms. In Goma, a priest helped them get to a camp Tanzania but it was full, so they found another in Malawi where they lived for 9 years. Asked how it felt to be in Rhode Island, Elelwa says that she is happy. The family lives...

If you worked alongside Furaha in our kitchen, you’d notice how warm, vibrant, and funny she is. And how well she communicates. Despite never attending school she already helps us explain things in Swahili to fellow Congolese trainees. But she carries heartache too. She was attacked by men with guns at the market where she was working. She mostly remembers the utter confusion and constant running that, in the end, left her in Tanzania with one child, separated from the rest of her family, including another child. She married another refugee there. Her Furaha likes working because she is deeply...

Afisa lived on a Tanzanian refugee camp with her husband and children for 6 years. Wanting to improve their living conditions, they moved to Mozambique with the help of the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission of Refugees), which gave them food rations for a short time. While there they worked with the local residents to cultivate rented land, which fed their family and enabled them to sell the extra. Eventually they started their own small shop. Afisa is most proud to mention that her children never went hungry and never had to steal to eat, and that she made sure...

When Aamina first saw pictures of Rhode Island—her new home to be—they were tourist shots taken in the summer. Imagine her surprise when, just one a year ago this month, she arrived in cold air and barren trees. She laughed and told us how happy she was to discover that our state does indeed turn warm and green. Aamina trained as a nurse in Mogadishu but then fled Somalia to Thailand in 2013 where she took care of herself by cleaning houses and offices and learning how to sew. Aamina knows that she may never, as she puts it, “do...

Sifa is a patient woman. She inquired about our training in January but did not start until June. Her only complaint so far is that it won’t continue as the full time job she’s seeking. “A good job with a decent wage will mean having money to plan for better things in life.” She grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo where she married and had 3 children. Her husband had a good job inspecting slaughtered animals before sale, but then he fell through a roof and injured his back. In 2005, when her family found safety in Uganda,...

Solaire, like many of our trainees this year, is from the Democratic Republic of Congo. She’s also the daughter of our recent graduate, Sifa. Her family, along with their entire village, fled a devastating war in the DRC with help of the UNHCR (United Nations High Commission on Refugees). Solaire was 6 years old when she began the rest of her childhood in a refugee camp in Uganda. Her memories of the camp included working at a small store selling clothes and always contributing to the family. Solaire is now 18 and a junior at the local high school. It...