International Institute of Rhode Island's mission is to enable all area residents, especially immigrants and refugees, to become self-reliant, invested participants in our communities, while fostering respect and understanding among all people. Read more

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Delachance:  He’ll Find His Way

IIRI extends our best wishes to Delachance, a refugee client who arrived here just one year ago, as he continues his post high school education as a freshman at the Community College of Rhode Island.

Above: Delachance with his high school diploma

Delachance was born in a refugee camp in 1990. His parents had escaped from Burundi and started their family in a refugee camp in Tanzania.  Delachance spent his whole life in the camp waiting for news of resettlement.  While in the camp, his father passed away and his mother became the sole caretaker and educator for the family. 

Finally, in 2008, the family was invited to settle in Providence, Rhode Island. In August 2008, Delachance left the camp for the first time and boarded a plane with his family. They did not know a soul in the city where they were going to land.

The IIRI Refugee Resettlement team was there for them. They secured affordable housing for the family, taking care of utilities and first month’s rent; provided intensive orientation on new cultural norms; coordinated medical screenings; provided education and job placement services to help them find a source of income as soon as possible; assisted with mounds of paperwork for immigration, healthcare, and benefits; and, of course, made sure they had suitable food and clothing.

When IIRI’s Providence School Liaison, Tyler Harmon, interviewed Delachance to assess his education needs she knew she was dealing with a very bright young man with lots of potential. But she also knew that the school system did not allow 18 year old refugees to attend classes. There was no place for Delachance. His only option would be manual labor and taking the GED at some point.

But Delachance wasn’t willing to resign his dream of completing school in the U.S. and neither was his mother, his brothers, or Tyler Harmon.  Together they began building a clear case to convince the school administrators to let him finish his senior year.  Finally, Delachance received the word that he would be allowed to start school as a senior in September 2008!

Above: Delachance with his mother and Tyler

Tyler recalls during those first weeks of school that Delachance remarked he was dumbfounded by how students handled and treated books. Books were so precious in Tanzania. He loved his books and couldn’t get over the fact that he had a book for each class AND he could take them home.

Delachance didn’t just keep up with the other Mount Pleasant seniors, he graduated with honors. And now, he will be attending the Community College of Rhode Island. From there, he is not sure. His family would like to see him pursue a career in medicine, but he has quite an entrepreneurial spirit and at the moment is interested in business. Whatever his life path, no doubt, it will be interesting. And whatever obstacles he encounters along the way?  With hope, perseverance, and courage…he will always find his way.

If you’d like to help Rhode Island’s refugees, contact Mary Ellen Lynch at 401-784-8649 or melynch@iiri.org