Trainees

We wanted to take a moment to recognize Denise, who, even as we write, is already moving on to a part-time job.  Originally from DR Congo, Denise spent many of her 23 years in a refugee camp in Rwanda. There she learned to read and write in Kinyarwanda. She also found her first job which involved doing comedy in "show business" at the camp!. Wow!  Denis has a 5-year-old son which means that work, training, education, and parenting are part of a high-stakes juggling act to become successful in the US. But she is absolutely determined. In order to accommodate...

Ngabo is one of our youth job trainees. Here is his story.Ngabo’s parents and older siblings fled from Congo to the Gihembe refugee camp in Rwanda where Ngabo was born. He recalls friends, learning some English in school, and how it was sometimes an hour walk each way to try to fetch water in a swampy area. His extended family, including cousins, all lived in a tent.When Ngabo's family was resettled in the summer of 2016, he didn’t realize that some of those cousins were already here in Rhode Island. How great to be close to them again! Ngabo tested...

Clementine grew up in Rwanda where she lived with her parents and four sisters.  She was studying accounting when she fell in love with Jerome, an American and former refugee, who had fled the war in Rwanda years earlier and finally returned for a visit.  Clementine had many friends and close family in Rwanda, so the hardest part about coming to Rhode island was not knowing anyone. But she says she wasn't afraid to move across the world because she trusts Jerome. The couple now have a son. Because Jerome works second shift, she's looking for a first-shift or weekend...

Alaa remembers growing up in Idlib, a city in Syria that was lush and green. She recalls cooking classes, playing a competitive sports team, and her extended family living in one unit, including aunts, uncles, and cousins.  She was married soon after high school and moved into her husband's family home. Her role was raising 3 children, and cooking for the extended family. Her husband ran a thriving business that helped others. "Now I'm in Rhode island," she said, "where a small business is helping me."  When things went "upside-down" in 2012, her family fled to Egypt and applied to...

Sahnun gave us permission to share his story: He grew up in Somalia where his father was killed when he was just 8. He describes it as "not a place to live." Escaping was no less traumatic. On the way to a camp in Qirah, Egypt, his family got separated. Only Sahnun, one sister, and his mother arrived. Nobody knows what happened to his 6 other siblings. He remembers the camp as a place of being bullied and beaten and has knife scars to show.  Sahnun is now 26. He arrived in May, 2017, and lives with his mom, his...

Like many of our recent trainees Mwarvita is from the Democratic Republic of Congo.  She and her husband knew each other growing up, married at 17 and farmed.  They fled violence in 1996 and spent 20 years at a refugee camp in Tanzania where they found it painful to live by depending on rations and the help of others.  She arrived with her family of 10 in 2016.   There have been many firsts to conquer in the US: schedules, school, now going to this production training for the first time.  Because of the holidays we are now working extra days...