The Refugee Youth Mentoring program at Catholic Charities Atlanta is part of a larger effort to welcome new neighbors to Georgia, providing services and support as they adjust to their new homes in the U.S.
Among the services are afterschool programming to assist with homework, English language learning and acclimating to life and school. Parents also receive help with transportation and interpretation/translation for school-related events.
The program matches 3rd and 4th grade students with adult mentors who take an interest in the youngsters, both for fun and for educational purposes.
Anna and Deloise are just such a pair. Anna is 10 years old and came to the U.S. with her family as refugees from Democratic Republic of Congo. Her parents wanted her to improve her reading, writing and conversational English – their first language is Swahili – as well as explore her new community.
Anna and Deloise like being out and about together, visiting the library, reading to each other, eating out and enjoying local events, including horseback riding!
Deloise has particularly enjoyed meeting people from another country. “I like the opportunity to meet Anna and her extended family and to learn more about their culture,” she said.
As for Anna, she loves being read to by Deloise, and, well, as she said, “I like everything!”