Inside an After-School Program for Refugee Children

[Sally]

This is a good idea, and I think in the long run it will teach the kids how to assimilate.
I think a lot of centers like this will have to be set up to accommodate all the refugee children coming in.


Inside an After-School Program for Refugee Children

The curriculum helps them learn English and share elements of the culture of their home countries.

Max Whittaker / Reuters

CHARLOTTE—The first thing I noticed about Sil Ganzo was her warm smile. It stayed put as the 33-year-old showed several journalists, myself included, around the center where she runs an after-school program, OurBRIDGE, for new arrivals to America. Roughly 70 kids from 20 countries, from kindergarten to fifth grade, pour into the center after school in waves. Most are refugees from countries like Nepal, Burma, Iraq, Afghanistan, Somalia, El Salvador, and Honduras.

As we stepped into the building, several of the kids yelled a singsong, “hi!” I walked around, taking pictures; a little girl giggled sheepishly as she worked on a math problem. Others posed unabashedly. A little boy in the corner started reading just a tiny bit louder, sneaking glances to see if I was watching.

Tanvi Misra / CityLab
The entire time we were there, Ganzo talked excitedly, rapidly. She has a light Argentinian accent. She came to America 13 years ago to work as an au pair. While living in the U.S., she met the man who is now her husband. It took her a few years to zero in on a suitable long-term career.

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Where Refugee Children Go After School?