Trainees

This month we introduce Beatrice. Like many high-schoolers, Beatrice wants to be her own person. She likes being trusted to do the right thing and having some independence. She brightens when talking about her (honors!) pre-calculus class and dancing at a local teen club. She also thinks about the future: college, making her mark in the world, making her mom proud, while also being able to, as she puts it, "breathe." Not always so easy when living between two cultures.  Beatrice grew up in Congo Brazzaville after fleeing DR Congo with her mother and older brother. Her vivid first memories...

This month we’re happy to feature our new (paid) summer intern.  She’ll be learning to sell granola at a farmers’ markets and creating original content (pictures and videos) for our social media. Marie, (15) from DRCongo, is part of a family of 8 that arrived in 2014 via Uganda and Thailand. Marie considers herself a young activist devoted to feminism, equal rights, and assisting refugees through trauma and resettlement. While Marie considers herself an outgoing person who loves History and is excited to call the USA home, one of her biggest adjustments involved starting at a big high school with...

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...