Meet Torbertha - Former Refugee Transitions Student and Current Summer Intern!

Introducing Torbertha, a former student in our after-school program, and now our summer intern. Torbertha recently passed her citizenship exam, along with her mother and sister! (Torbertha is pictured below on the left holding a flag in the second row with her family and a Refugee Transitions volunteer.)

Hi everyone! My name is Torbertha Torborn. I was born and raised in West Africa, Liberia. I came to the United States in 2004 with my family because there were wars in my country.

I am currently a 4^th year student at the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in Social Welfare with a concentration in Public Health and an intended major or minor in Anthropology. I am also a current intern at Refugee Transitions and feel fortunate to be in this position because their programs are what equipped me for college and helped my family and me adjust to American culture and society.            

In addition to helping my family adjust to American society, a Refugee Transitions volunteer also assisted my mother in studying for the naturalization test. Very recently, my mom, my older sister, and I passed the test together and we’re now citizens of the United States! During the citizenship ceremony, I was very emotional - both sad and happy at the same time. Sad because my family and I had come a very long way and had experienced many hardships on our journeys. Happy because, despite these hardships, we all have become well-rounded people and are very focused on pursuing the great opportunities and overcoming any challenges in store for us in the United States.       

It is a great opportunity and a privilege to become a U.S. citizen because with this title we can obtain numerous opportunities such as scholarships and internships, and obtain higher job positions. Being a U.S. citizen is also a great opportunity because we can now travel the world and return to the U.S. without dealing with immigration barriers that sometimes delay a non-U.S. citizen from entering the country.

Overall, I am very grateful to be here, and also glad to be an intern at Refugee Transitions.  Refugee Transitions exposed me to a field that I am greatly interested in. As a refugee myself, I would like to work and help other refugees around the world – right now,  either in the nursing filed or the social work filed.                 

- Torbertha Torbon, Refugee Transitions Summer Intern

Meet Lauren Markham - RT Senior Program and Volunteer Coordinator

Insights from an RT staff member...

Every January, I support a week-long leadership camp in El Salvador in conjunction with Salvadoran agency ASAPROSAR and U.S.-based agency Magicians Without Borders.

ASAPROSAR (Asociacion Pro Salud Rural) is a visionary health organization based in Santa Ana that began in the midst of the country's civil war, with determined physicians providing health care on donkey-back to isolated communities in the countryside. Now, ASAPROSAR serves thousands of Salvadorans every year through water and sanitation programs, early childhood health outreach, vaccination and eye clinics, and youth services (the program I support each January).

Due to overcrowding in the education system, students in El Salvador only attend school for half of the day. As is the case in many other countries, youth work to support their families - often long hours cutting coffee or selling goods in the market. Sadly, the country's gangs rule the streets and, in many cases, the lives of Santa Ana's citizens. Many of the youth whom ASAPROSAR serves - called the Angeles Descalzos or Barefoot Angels - have had their loved ones killed at the hands of bandilleros or are being recruited to join the gangs' ranks. ASAPROSAR offers a safe space for students to learn, develop leadership skills, receive intensive counseling and work toward a future free of violence.

Our annual campamento was conceived in order to support the leaders among the Barefoot Angels and reward students for last year's hard work. Each January ("summer" vacation for students in El Salvador), 25-30 students congregate with ASAPROSAR teachers for workshops in Leadership, music, dance, writing, soccer and magic (you should see these kids disappear balls and pull cards from the sky!).

I recently completed my MFA in Creative Writing and am committed to the power of storytelling as a tool for healing and growth. This year's writing workshop couldn't have made it more clear to me that, for youth especially, creating stories out of difficult experiences can serve as a vehicle for healing and growth (check out some of the poems that RT students wrote this summer, featured earlier in our blog).

Campamento is not unlike Refugee Transitions' annual summer camp - a place for students to get outside, experience a temporary respite from their intense home responsibilities, practice their leadership skills and build meaningful and supportive relationships outside of their families. I feel remarkably fortunate to be a part of both inspiring "summer" camps and, as I told the RT staff, that I have a full-time job that makes me excited to come home - no matter where I've gone - and get back to work! Now that's lucky. 

Meet Courtenay Houk - RT Winter Intern

My name is Courtenay Houk, and I am presently a sophomore studying liberal arts with a focus in French and Chinese languages and cultures at Bennington College in Vermont.

As a requirement for my school, I am fulfilling an annual internship we call "Field Work Term," and this year I am incredibly fortunate to have a place at Refugee Transitions. I chose to spend this time with Refugee Transitions because it is an organization that encompasses my passions for language, culture, and helping others.

Though I am native to Pennsylvania, I have also lived in Shijiazhuang, Hebei Province, People's Republic of China and the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. For the past eight years, I have been living in southern Vermont.

Both of my parents are teachers, and have always inspired and encouraged my love for learning - especially regarding foreign peoples and cultures. In the future, I hope to hone the skills necessary to become a translator and interpreter so that I might find work as a "cultural bridge-builder" in order to help relieve misunderstanding between people of differing cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

Name: Courtenay Houk
Neighborhood: Bennington, Vermont
Job: RT Intern/ESL Tutor
RT programs/events you’ve participated in: I will be tutoring at the after-school programs at SFIHS and OIHS, and plan on attending volunteer trainings and the volunteer happy hour on January 26th :)

What are your hobbies? Reading, running, photography, LGBTQ activism/awareness-raising, learning about foreign languages, cultures, and customs. 
If you could have dinner with anyone, past or present, who would that person be? My grandfather. He died before I was born, and I have always wondered what sort of person he would be today and what my relationship with him might have been like. 
What is your favorite book? Whatever book I am currently reading...presently, it's The Wrestler's Cruel Study by Stephen Dobyns. 
If you could travel anywhere, where would you go, and what would you do? I am hoping to study abroad in Kunming, Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China in Fall 2011 and in Grenoble, France in Spring 2012 for my junior year of college.
If you could instantly learn how to do anything, what would that be? Acquiring immediate and long-term fluency in French and Chinese - the two languages I am presently learning in school. 
Who has been the most influential teacher in your life so far? My parents.

Yesterday was my first day at RT, and I already feel so much at home. I am very excited to start working with students at the San Francisco and Oakland International High Schools, and to do whatever I can to help make their transition into the American school system an easier process.

Introducing RT's New Informational Video

For the past couple months, I've been working with RT's staff and volunteers to compile footage for a new informational video about our organization.

It's been a lot of fun wandering around with our handy little Flip camera, visiting our after-school programs at Oakland International High School (OIHS) and San Francisco International High School (SFIHS), listening in on our Community Navigator Intern meetings, interviewing volunteers, students, and staff, and tagging along with Lauren (one of our volunteer coordinators) during a student-volunteer match!

Jayson Tang, a senior art director based in San Francisco, graciously volunteered his time to put the final video together and record the narrative. Take a look at Jayson's website to find out more about his work and portfolio.

Thank you to Jayson, and to our staff members, students, and volunteers who helped and participated in this effort.

Enjoy!

Sandy, PR and Development Associate/AmeriCorps VISTA