Meet Walga - A Future Participant in US Together's Summer Youth Program!
As the US Together staff prepares for our Summer Youth Program beginning next month, we are incredibly excited to introduce you all to one of the amazing refugee kids who will be enrolling in the program, Walga!
Walga came to Cleveland from a refugee camp in the Democratic Republic of the Congo two years ago, with her mother, two older brothers and younger sister. She is 16 years old, and is a 10th grader at Thomas Jefferson Newcomers Academy in Cleveland, a school that helps new immigrant and refugee youth transition into the public school system their first two years in the U.S.
If there’s anything we learned about Walga when we talked with her about the Summer Youth Program, it’s that she absolutely loves school and learning! Her favorite subjects are math and science, specifically physics because of how cool it is that you can look at anything in the world and explain how it works by just using an equation. For example, you can see an apple fall and know exactly where it’s going to land, because you have the math and science to figure it out.
Walga’s favorite part of school is seeing her friends and breaking out into groups in math class to compete and answer questions the fastest. After graduating high school, Walga wants to attend college to study medicine and eventually become a doctor.
Walga with holiday gifts from Park Synagogue
US Together AmeriCorps VISTAs Liv Randall and Melissa Mattwig interviewing Walga for this article!
At the beginning of the pandemic, Walga admitted that remote learning was a tough obstacle to get used to. At her house, she is in charge of cooking and cleaning, so it was difficult to juggle all of that work with constant studying. However, since then she has developed a schedule and now she gets everything done with ease.
Walga also received help from her Remote Learning Mentoring Program mentor, Carol! Carol helped Walga with a lot of hurdles at the start of remote learning. For example, when Walga didn’t know how to turn in an assignment on the remote school platform, Carol called Walga’s teacher, who explained the process to Carol, and then Carol explained the process to Walga!
As the school year begins to wind-down, Walga is looking forward to participating in US Together’s Summer Youth Program! She’s most excited to go outside and travel to new places, because “it’s so hard staying inside”. She’s also ready to meet new friends through the program, stating “I’m excited to go outside and meet new people. I want to make friends too! But not people who are a bad influence, I want a good friend.” We are so ready to help Walga and all the other kids in the Summer Youth Program, get outside, exercise and meet new people!
In order to make the Summer Youth Program come to fruition, we need the help of our amazing supporters. We have a long way to go before we reach out goal of $3,500, but we know we can get there with all of you!
To help Walga and the other refugee kids in the Summer Youth Program, click the button below!