Some of the students at Kabarore Teacher Training College are refugees from Congo. This is 11th grader Herene who left TTC Kabarore yesterday to return to the refugee camp to get ready to join her father in Kentucky next week. Her journey prompted a lot of discussion in the staff room about refugees in the U.S. A Zimbabwean tutor said that he would like her to continue her education, but I told her it’s more likely that she’ll work and get a high school equivalency diploma. I explained that refugees have to reimburse the U.S. government for the air ticket within 6 months of settling in the U.S. I also pointed out that state education laws differ; if Herene was in New York State, she could continue her education until the year she turned 22, but I’m not sure about Kentucky.

Herene is a great kid and will do fine in the U.S. I gave her the U.S. and Rwandan flags from my bicycle as a going-away present. Good luck, Herene!