Refugees hope to improve their lives in Spartanburg

A group of international students is learning English at the Adult Learning Center in Spartanburg.

The classroom has a mix of students working on their GEDs, along with people from Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Laos, Congo, Ghana and other countries. Last week, they sat together in a classroom at the center.

Some are refugees who have been brought over through a U.S. Refugee Resettlement program. Spartanburg became a part of the resettlement effort this year.

In their time away from class, they are finding jobs and getting used to big box department stores, different food and bus schedules, said English teacher Jana White.

“These are very motivated, very appreciative adults who are really phenomenal,” White said.

World Relief, a faith-based nonprofit, is helping bring the refugees to Spartanburg. The agency is pairing church groups and volunteers with refugees to help them get settled. At least 20 have resettled in Spartanburg thus far and about 60 are expected to arrive this year.

The resettlement has been met with contention as some have criticized the vetting process and others have called into question how the program is funded.

Bill Brasington Jr., director of the Adult Learning Center, said people who oppose the refugee resettlement would change their minds if they met the newcomers.

“You meet them as individuals and your perspective totally changes,” he said. “It’s a person.”

Good Neighbor Teams, or groups of volunteers, help furnish apartments, host dinners and provide information on transportation and job opportunities to the refugees.

Getting adjusted to a new way of life is not easy, the group agreed.

“I like the city, the roads and the buildings,” said 20-year-old Sophie Kasanga, who was wearing a traditional blue African outfit. However, she has experienced some challenges such as finding her style of clothing and trying to learn the bus schedules and locations.

“It’s difficult to live without a car,” she said.

But the refugees said no matter the struggles they face getting settled in a new country, the hurdles don’t compare to the conditions of a refugee overseas.

Jason Lee, World Relief’s local director, said all of the refugees who arrived more than six weeks ago have found employment.

The people from the Congo in White’s class have not found jobs yet, but they hope to find work soon.

Jean Claude Asifiwe, 21, said he wants to go into engineering. His older brother, Jean De Dieu Ntihemuka, 26, said he wants to start a career in agriculture. Others said they are simply happy to be somewhere they can seek a job.

“I’ll do anything,” said Patrick Kyawugibza, 23.

The food in Spartanburg has been a universal culture shock for the group.

Dada Mbareba, 23, said people from Africa are accustomed to eating in their homes with families. Many people in Spartanburg prefer to dine out, she said.

Mbareba said it was hard to leave her family behind. She has three sisters and two brothers still in a refugee camp in Rwanda.

“I can’t be happy knowing they are there in camp. They are suffering,” she said.

White said it will take time for the refugees to overcome their difficult pasts.

“The newest refugees I have, they have not been here long enough to start to unburden the trauma,” she said.