Elimisha Kakuma Newsletter | Vol. 3
Preparing for Departure
Seven students from Elimisha’s Kakuma’s 2nd Cohort have all received their CTD, or conventional traveling document, which serves as a type of passport for refugees, and most of them have successfully received their visas after a lot of interview support and preparation from our tutors! Two students are still in process, but we’re hopeful that there will be fewer snags this year. This prepares us for the final phase of the travel process: flights! Your support in these areas are what allows us to help continue our mission, of nurturing a generation of educated refugees! Please view the ways you can contribute here. Your support is greatly appreciated.
Mary Maker Speaks at the United Nations
Co-founder, Mary Maker, spoke last week at the United Nations at The High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF). There, Mary gave a passionate, moving speech about what it is to be a refugee among people who hold such power. We are planning to post the text of her speech on the blog soon. If you'd like to watch it, click here; her roughly 3-minute speech begins at minute 39.
An Elimisha Kakuma Teacher Visits Kakuma Refugee Camp
One of our team members who has been tutoring and teaching students since our founding in 2021, Anika Brennan, went to Kakuma for a month to teach students in person, specifically in academic writing and in getting them started in writing their personal statements through various creative writing workshops. She also met with those students who will be leaving soon for university, discussing the cultural transition and university experience.
As Anika shared, “Having spent early mornings for the last two years, on Zoom developing friendships and listening to stories about Kakuma, getting the opportunity to visit and teach in person was an incredibly surreal and invaluable experience. Landing in Kakuma and being instantly hit with the harsh heat, teaching students in our center, and seeing life in Kakuma grounded me to our mission in a way that connecting online couldn’t.
After two years of Zoom and WhatsApp calls, the ups and downs, meeting the students who I’ve worked with for the past two years who will be leaving for university in the next month was especially surreal in the best way possible. It was meeting dear friends for the first time, in real life.”
Elimisha Kakuma partners with RISE
RISE is a program that finds promising young people and provides opportunity for life as they work to serve others. As an initiative of Schmidt Futures and the Rhodes Trust, RISE is the anchor program of a $1 billion commitment from Eric and Wendy Schmidt to find and support global talent. Elimisha Kakuma will be working to facilitate the selection process of 15-17 year olds within Kakuma Refugee Camp with the hope of providing mentorship and helping kids in the camp dream of possibilities.
Elimisha Kakuma At the UN HQ in New York
Following World Refugee Day on June 20th, Elimisha Kakuma was invited to an event held by the National Association of System Heads (NASH) in collaboration with UNITAR (United Nations Institute for Training and Research), to take part in conversations surrounding the role of universities in refugee protection.
Organizations working towards this goal that was first launched in January 2023 by the US department of the states through the Welcome Corp program, could spark hope for refugee students all over the world. They have just announced a program called Welcome Corps on Campus that will provide a pathway to refugee resettlement for refugee students seeking higher education.
This is a monumental moment in refugee resettlement and higher education access, and Elimisha Kakuma as well as our partner Virginia Tech’s Center for Refugee, Migrant, and Displacement Studies are in talks with key players.
This event was attended by Mary Maker, Co-founder of Elimisha Kakuma and Rachael Jarosh, advisor to Elimisha Kakuma.
Iranzi Innocent (Elimisha Kakuma Student) Wins Mastercard Scholarship USIU!
We are excited to announce our first scholarship of our third cohort! Iranzi Innocent has won a Mastercard scholarship to attend United States International University in Nairobi, Kenya. This is an amazing scholarship that will connect him with many opportunities during his studies and afterwards! Congratulations, Innocent!
We’re Looking for Host Families!
One often overlooked part of helping refugees transition to life in the United States is the importance of host families. These generous families and individuals play a vital role in helping acclimate the students, by being a source of information and family in their new country. From answering questions about cultural norms, to inviting the students for dinners during holidays, host families are incredible ways to make immediate impacts on these students’ lives, as well as create lifelong bonds and friendships. View a LinkedIn post from Mary’s host mother here.
We’re currently looking for host families in these cities:
San Francisco/Berkeley, CA (UC Berkeley)
St. Paul, MN (Macalester College)
Chicago, IL (Two students attending Elmhurst University)
Hartford, CT (Trinity College)
Prague, Czech Republic (Czech University of Life Sciences)
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada (Dalhousie University)