Of the myriad problems facing refugees and their families in Baltimore, homework may seem minor.
But for children learning a new language and struggling to make up lost time in school, help is critical. Five years ago, the Refugee Youth Project was formed to fill an academic need for students coming to the area from all over the world. The program is run through the Baltimore City Community College and works in partnership with the Baltimore City Public School System, theInternational Rescue Committee and the Maryland Office of New Americans.
The project has 96 students enrolled in its summer program and is due to expand next year after the award of a new grant last week from the Mayor Martin O?Malley?s office, said Ann Flagg, a resource developer at the IRC. Baltimore, Flagg said, typically receives 300 or more refugees a year from the tens of thousands admitted annually by U.S. government.
Most of the tutors and mentors during the school year are volunteer undergraduate and graduate college students, but include some professionals.
“We always need volunteers,” said Nina Blanas, who got involved with the project several years ago as an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins University and is now the BCCC Refugee Program manager.
This summer, the BCCC and the city school system each hired four certified teachers to work with the volunteers. Summer classes where held at Patterson High School, Moravia Park Elementary/Middle School, Trailblazers Church in Highlandtown and the BCCC campus on Reisterstown Road.
Refugee Youth Project plays a role beyond reading, writing, arithmetic and the field trips to Smithsonian and Inner Harbor Aquarium for the students, aged 4-21, in the program. They find a social support system as well, Blanas said.
Aboudacarr Jadama, 10, originally from Gambia, and Michael Masumbu, 11, born in Congo and raised in Russia, have been coming to the Youth Refugee Project for six and three years, respectively. They?ve learned to read and write English together at Highland Elementary with the aid of the Youth Refugee Project and are best friends. Michael, living in Baltimore with his father and older brother, was recently reacquainted with his mother and two other siblings after seven years of separation.
“I like the kids, the teachers, the classes ? everything,” Michael said Friday, smiling following a short play put on by students.
