Unaccompanied Refugee Minor Flourishes Despite Odds

Joseph, (a pseudonym to protect his privacy), the eighth of ten children, was born in a small village in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Joseph’s parents had lived in the DRC after fleeing their home in Rwanda due to rising tensions between the Hutus and the Tutsis. Unfortunately, life for the family continued to be tumultuous in the DRC. Joseph’s father was murdered, and his mother, who could neither read nor write, became the sole provider for the family.

Growing up, Joseph learned basic counting, reading, and writing skills, by using a bible as a textbook at a church-run school he occasionally attended. At the age of 13, Joseph’s village was attacked, and he and his entire family were separated in the chaos. Joseph was forced to travel alone for many months, faced  atrocities of war, and ultimately ended up in eastern DRC, where he was able to get a ride with a semi-truck driver to Kenya. In Kenya, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) interviewed Joseph, and he was identified as an unaccompanied refugee minor (URM) eligible for resettlement.

In 2016, at the age 17, Joseph arrived in the United States. He was placed in a caring foster home with several other boys from different countries through Catholic Community Services, an Unaccompanied Refugee Minors Program provider in Washington state. Joseph had already begun the process of learning English in Kenya, which helped with his transition. However, Joseph was enrolled in ninth grade at the local high school, which he found uncomfortable since he was much older than his classmates. As an alternative solution, his foster father helped him to enroll at a community college to take GED preparation classes. During this time of immense change, Joseph reconnected with his family by initially finding one of his brothers through social media. He eventually located the rest of his family, learning they were all okay and living in Kenya.

It took Joseph about a year to achieve his GED. He credits his educational successes to finding his family—both his mother and brother encouraged him to continue with school. Through financial aid and educational and training vouchers, which are offered to URMs to facilitate their transition to adulthood, Joseph earned his Associate of Science degree in June 2020. His hard work and persistence have paid off because he was accepted into a program to pursue a bachelor’s degree in chemistry. After earning money for school through two summer jobs, Joseph recently began his last year of college.

Joseph continues to thrive, and he is passionate about school, continuing his education, as well as making sure he is able to help others in the future. After completing his undergraduate degree, Joseph aims to enlist in either the U.S. Air Force or U.S. Navy and pursue his Doctor of Dental Medicine.