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On September 28, 2016, Alphonse and his sister were welcomed to the United States by World Relief Memphis staff and volunteers eager to help. Just a few months later, the number of refugees to be admitted to the United States was drastically cut.  

In the span of a few months, people’s hopes and dreams of rebuilding a life in the U.S., safe from harm, were dashed. Alphonse, however, was one of the lucky ones. 

“I thought ‘Wow’ because I know most people always dream to come to the US,” said Alphonse, 24. “I just realized that I’m one of the lucky ones, and I’m here.” 

Alphonse was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but, at only two months old, he went to a refugee camp in Tanzania with his father. When his father died, he returned to the DRC, but the situation had not improved, and he moved to a new camp in Malawi with his sister. 

“There were still robbers coming to break down the house, still the same thing happening with people getting killed,” Alphonse explained. “It was really hard, so my mom decided to tell me to move to the refugee camp in Malawi with my sister.” 

For the next thirteen years, he and his sister waited for news of their visa. As time passed, Alphonse dreamed of America—Los Angeles, New York, Chicago—but he never expected Memphis. When they were told they were moving here, the dream began to solidify into reality as he researched his new home.  

From day one, Alphonse began learning how to navigate his new life. However, he was never alone as he might have imagined before. Instead, he had a family of volunteers, World Relief Memphis staff and fellow immigrants there to help him. 

“World relief was one of the organizations that helped me make more friends with volunteers,” Alphonse said. “They drove me around, took me out, [encouraged me to] try and move forward, and start looking for jobs. I found my first job.” 

With their help, Alphonse began to wade through the culture shock of a new country and language to become an entrepreneur and leader in his own community.  

“When somebody leaves their stuff to come help you out, it’s really showing love, because not everybody can do that,” said Alphonse, referring to World Relief Memphis and his team of volunteers. “To see that passion of helping people out, why not support that? You want to see the world as a beautiful place; it is something that you want to put yourself and get into.” 

With that thought in mind, Alphonse is doing everything in his power to take care of his community, in particular the youth and the elderly, through his cleaning business and job readiness trainings.  

“It’s hard for them because most of them are old, and learning English is not easy for them,” said Alphonse, who would like to run the program in partnership with World Relief Memphis. “I started having the idea that once they first arrive in the United States, showing them how to do things like ‘This is where you have to put your name, your address, your phone number, etc.’” 

From there, his hope is that they would then find employment within the city, or perhaps even in his own entrepreneurial endeavors. When not pursuing his degree in Computer Information Systems or working, Alphonse can be found working on his own business cleaning and disinfecting offices. 

“We have other people in the community where—they have disability problems where they cant work. Some of them they just feel like they need something simple,” Alphonse said. “I started thinking about coming up with something that might make them feel like they’re doing something, even if it is that little. They know that they have something that gives them a little source of income to support themselves beside having assistance from the government.” 

As his business grows, he plans to begin hiring within his community. Yet for the moment, he is focusing on his studies despite the challenges that arrive, such as a pandemic, so that he can in turn focus on his family. 

“Life is surprising me every day. It’s getting more surprising every day,” Alphonse said with a chuckle. “I really want to work hard. I want to change my family story. I want to see myself doing something different.” 

Coming from a family of doctors and nurses, Alphonse still plans on helping others and giving back to the community, but not in the way that they would expect because of his chosen career field in technology.  

“I know technology is one thing back home people still struggle with, so even when I go back I can still be that person [who] bring[s] new changes in the community, in the village, in the society, where people can start knowing things,” Alphonse said. 

When he arrived nearly five years ago, he had never dreamed of this new possibility. At the time, his dream was simply to come to the United States. Looking back, Alphonse knows it wasn’t fate or a coincidence, but rather God’s perfect timing.  

“I can say everything that has happened to me is God’s hand upon my life,” Alphonse said. “God is really doing amazing things. I can say to start a business and do school while working, it’s not like I’m controlling it. God is helping me every day to keep going, pushing.” 

Perhaps one day soon, Alphonse will be helping other refugees realize similar dreams as they begin to arrive in the United States under the increased refugee ceiling. For now, he’ll continue forging ahead to achieve his own and pave the path for others that come after him. 

“People just have to keep trying because sometimes, life gives us a different picture than what we think life looks like. But at the end of the day, whatever comes your way, it’s for your own sake and it’s going to be better—somehow, some way,” Alphonse said. “It’s just good to keep trying. That’s how I always do.” 

If you want to be a part in helping refugees and immigrants such as Alphonse rebuild their lives and achieve their dreams here in the United States, head to our ReBuild page to see just how you can do so.  

To Alphonse, we are so thankful that we were able to be a part of your journey as you arrived in the U.S., and we are incredibly proud of all that you have done. We cannot wait to see what the future holds. 

When Alphonse stepped off the plane in Memphis nearly five years ago, he thought he would be alone. He had his sister by his side, but his mother was still in the Democratic Republic of Congo along with his other siblings.  

Yet to his surprise, he was greeted at the airport by his name—one that only his family had ever used. Instead of being alone, he and his sister were welcomed into Memphis by individuals who would prove to be his mentors time and time again as he navigated life in the United States for the first time.  

With the help of World Relief Memphis and the community, Alphonse began to rebuild his life in the United States, after having spent most of it in refugee camps previously.  

“World relief was one of the organizations that helped me make more friends with volunteers,” Alphonse explained.  “They drove me around, took me out, [encouraged me to] try and move forward, and [to] start looking for jobs.” 

Although it wasn’t easy, Alphonse was able to start working only a month after arriving thanks to their help. Shortly after, he decided to return to school and get a degree.  

As he was applying, he learned that none of his previous studies would transfer to the American education system. He would have to start over.  

Unsure of what to do in a foreign country in a language that wasn’t his own, he turned to friends who had completed the process before him. They mentored him, showing him where to take English classes, where to get his GED and how to get accepted.  

Thanks to the help of his mentors, Alphonse earned his high school diploma in just 11 months. He had completed grades nine through twelve in less than a year. 

“Every day, I had to be there for over 10 hours. I had to quit my job and stay on campus,” said Alphonse, now 24. “It was really rough because the whole year, I was not working, and I had to support myself financially too. It was hard.” 

Three years later, Alphonse is thriving. He will soon be completing his associate’s degree in Computer Information Technology at Southwest Tennessee Community College; he works full-time; he’s started his own business; and he’s a leader in his community. 

His success, however, wouldn’t have been possible without mentors from the U.S. and the immigrant community that walked him through the process each time he had questions.  

“They introduced me to their friends who have already been through the same process, who have done the same major that I want to do. They’re actually working in the field so they’re telling me how the experience is,” said Alphonse, who plans to attend the University of Memphis in 2022. “I was like ‘Wow. I think I can do it.’ At the end of the day, I ended up in college, and it was still really hard.” 

Because of their support, Alphonse is now in a place where he feels that he can give back to others just as they have done for him. When World Relief Memphis launched their Youth Mentoring Program in the spring, he was one of the first to sign up.  

“Youth mentoring is something I was passionate about because other people helped me throughout the process,” he said. “Being a teenager and trying to figure out what to do in life is very challenging, especially when you just graduate from high school. You might have a lot of ideas, and if you talk to people, they can show you the right way, and it might lead you to a good path.” 

Just a few weeks ago, he was told that he had been matched with his WRM mentee. He had already been a mentor to his nephew and others in the community as they prepare to start university, but now he’s taking it one step further by encouraging others to purse their studies just as his mentors once did to him.  

“Trying to make people move outside their comfort zone [is] a little bit challenging, but it is something we want to bring to the community—that there are still good things out there,” Alphonse explained. “You can feel like you’re not good at anything, but it’s better to try than to sit down and not do it. Once you try, it’s going to give you experience on how other things look like.” 

Throughout the course of their relationship, Alphonse hopes to help him succeed just as others have helped him before so that he’s not alone—helping him choose a major, find a job and network with his future colleagues in business. The Youth Mentoring Program may only be for a year, but Alphonse shrugs that away. 

“As long as he’s still going to need me, I’ll be there,” he said with a smile and a nod of his head. “At the end of the day, we always want to have a community where we see people growing.” 

Alphonse, thank you for your commitment to the community and our youth! We are excited to have you as a part of our Youth Mentoring Program.  

If you believe in helping people grow like Alphonse does, fill out an application for Youth Mentoring today. We are currently enrolling mentors for the summer season, and we would love to have you join us in walking towards a new horizon where all can flourish.  

At 10-years-old, Alliance already understands the responsibilities that only an adult should. As she gets ready for school, she glances at her three siblings, worrying about what she will prepare for them for lunch that day.  

As she steps out of the door of their home in the Gihembe refugee camp in Rwanda, she sees the storm clouds rolling in over the horizon. She begins the long walk to school, and the rain starts to fall. The wind picks up.  

By the time she arrives, she’s soaked to the bone. With each step she takes, water drips to the red dirt floor. The teacher starts the class, but Alliance isn’t listening. Instead, she hears the wind growing stronger, rattling the make-shift structure that is their school. 

Even if the structure doesn’t blow away, she will still have to repeat the walk home, cook lunch for her younger siblings while her mom is looking for work to support them, and once again return to school in the midst of the downpour.  

When she goes to sleep that night after completing her chores, she knows that she will have to repeat the process again the next day. Only this time, perhaps she won’t have to worry about her school being blown away in the midst of a storm. 

Until one day, she didn’t. In 2015, Alliance and her siblings left the only home they had ever known and moved to the United States with their mother to begin rebuilding their lives. To the thirteen-year-old, it felt like a practical joke. 

“I didn’t believe we were coming here,” said Alliance, now 19. “There [was] no [way] I [was] going to a new country because we never really travelled, even outside of the state, out of the camp, because we were not allowed to get involved with the other citizens because we were not citizens. We were just refugees, immigrants. The whole thought of us going, not outside of the country but outside of the continent, it just scared me, and I never dreamed of it.” 

Arriving in Memphis one hot summer day, her family is greeted at the airport by the team at World Relief Memphis. Her mother looks to her to guide them because she’s learned the basics of English at school and was the top of her class, but it’s too fast. 

Slowly, she begins to settle into life in the U.S. When August rolls around, she begins school with the other children her age. Only this time, she doesn’t have to worry about cooking lunch for her siblings or her school being blown away. Now, she’s safe. 

“We were able to learn new things in the safest way possible, because [before], if the wind blew, it could easily bring the shelter down, and we would just be rained on, and we wouldn’t have school,” said Alliance, a senior at East High School. “Another thing that I liked about here is that the schools have food for kids to eat. Mostly—where I’m from, you had to stay in class—while in class you’re thinking, ‘Oh my God, what am I going to eat when I get home.’”  

As the oldest, she thought not of herself, but of her siblings. Once she was stateside, however, she was able to shift her focus to her studies in a way she hadn’t been able to before thanks to her teachers and team at World Relief Memphis. 

“The teachers were really nice, and thankfully we had organizations like World Relief that helped us, you know, like getting used to the customs here,” she said. “[They] helped us get used to the environment here, and we’re grateful for that.” 

Nearly six years later, Alliance and her siblings are thriving. In June, she will be graduating from high school, and in August she will begin her college career at the University of Memphis as part of their ROTC program thanks to the encouragement of one of her 10th grade teachers. 

“When I was in high school, I wanted to find myself,” Alliance said. “It wasn’t until 10th grade when I joined JROTC that I found this teacher. He was like a father to me because my dad is not here, and he was in the military, and he introduced me to the military life.” 

To this day, they still talk on a daily basis. He checks on her about her schoolwork, encouraging her to continue even when it gets difficult. In return, Alliance perseveres, determined to break the cycle within her family and to make a difference in the society that’s welcomed and given so much to her.  

“I want to challenge [myself], and I want to be able to stay fit, because people from my country don’t stay fit like that because all we do is go to school, graduate, and get married, and I want to do everything different,” Alliance explained. “I’m trying to break the family cycle, which is one of the reasons why I decided to join the army.” 

In the fall, she will be doing just that as she starts her freshman year. In between ROTC trainings, she will be studying to become a pharmacist or psychologist.  

“I care so much about health, and I want to get into medicine and having people cured. Because growing up, we would get sick, and [my grandma] would find some natural cures. Since the world is developed now, I want to be able to do that in a chemical way,” said Alliance, the eldest of five. “With psychology, I really want to help people with their problems because I know what I had to deal with as a child and where I am now, and I would really like teaching a way they can deal with their problems.” 

No matter the path she chooses, Alliance will ensure that those who come after her will feel the safety and security that she does now. She may be caught in the occasional rainstorm on the way to school, but she knows that she and her family can build their lives in the U.S. in peace. 

Alliance, we are so proud of you, and we cannot wait to see what the future holds for you! 

If you want to play a role in the lives of our youth, sign up to become a Youth Mentor. As summer approaches, we are looking for more mentors to onboard. Start the application here. 

This Mother’s Day, we want to wish all of our mothers, in all stages of life, a Happy Mother’s Day. We know that motherhood is a blessing, but it’s not without its trials. For many of our families, mothers have made immense sacrifices for their children. Today, we honor and thank you for all that you do.

Seeta is a mother of four. When her family left Afghanistan, however, only three children boarded the plane with her and her husband, Noor.

Aysha, their youngest daughter at less than a year old, was forced to stay behind as her family left in search of safety in America. Having served the U.S. military as a journalist, her husband and her family could no longer stay in Afghanistan for fear of retaliation from the Taliban.

“I was working with the U.S. military as a journalist, and she was working with USAID (United State Agency for International Development) and United Nations, so it was very dangerous for us because the Taliban did not accept people who worked for foreigners,” Noor explained. “We were not safe in our country, so in order to seek safety we came here.”

Consequently, Noor and his family were offered Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) from the U.S. government as a way to not only thank them but also to protect them.

But at the time the visa paperwork was issued, Aysha had not been born. As a result, her paperwork was filed separately, and Noor and Seeta were forced to leave her behind with other family members.

“It was a hard time because we didn’t have any choice,” said Noor, who recently found work with Amazon. “We thought if we lost that chance, we wouldn’t find it again. Because of that, we left our baby there. We came here. If we had cancelled our visas, maybe we wouldn’t have been able to get [them] back.”

Instead, Seeta and her husband arrived in Memphis in October 2020 with their eight-, six- and five-year-old children. It wasn’t until two months later that they received news about Aysha’s visa, but, for her to come, Seeta risked not being able to return to the U.S. because her green card had not arrived.

Determined to be reunited with her daughter, Seeta and her Good Neighbor Team began looking for a way to make it possible alongside World Relief Memphis staff. After speaking with the State Department, they discovered that her green card had been misplaced, but that she could go to Afghanistan with her current visa knowing that it was coming.

Yet when she arrived in Afghanistan, she was greeted by a baby who didn’t recognize her. The months apart had created distance, but Seeta was patient.

“It was emotional, and she didn’t want to come with me for one day or night, like maybe she [had] forgotten me,” Seeta said. “Then she realized who I am, and now she’s not leaving me for one minute.”

Finally, Seeta brought her daughter home. Her family was together, and they could begin to rebuild their lives in safety.

Today, she works for Shelby County, helping connect others in her community with the resources they need in the wake of the pandemic. After advocating for women and children’s safety in Afghanistan for many years, Seeta seeks to empower women in the workplace.

Aysha, on the other hand, is flourishing.

“She’s very happy with us now. When she came, she was sad and keeping calm,” Noor said. “But now, she’s come back better than ever and is very active.” 

When asked if they had hopes and dreams for the future, Noor and Seeta immediately responded.

“For sure, that’s why we are here. We are here because of these. We try to do all our best for all our children.” 

This year, we have a number of students graduating from high school, many of them being the first ones to do so in their family. We wanted to take a moment to focus on some of our seniors as they prepare to enter into a new phase of their life. First up is future soccer pro Gabriel. 

As a child growing up in Malawi, Gabriel Lenge dreamed of playing professional soccer. Now, thanks to his time at White Station High School, that dream could become reality.  

His first year on the team, they won the state championship, and Gabriel was named the best defender in the district. That year, his coach helped him to improve and finesse his skills. At the same time, his teachers and mentors encouraged him to pursue his studies, rather than focusing on one or the other like he had done in the past. 

“In Malawi, I wasn’t good in school,” said Gabriel, 18. “I used to go to school, but when I got home, I just wanted to put the bag over there and go play soccer.” 

Arriving in the U.S., however, Gabriel’s teachers and support system at World Relief Memphis urged him to pursue both his passions—math and soccer.  

“A lot of people were telling me that school is important here,” said Gabriel, who will be attending Southwest Tennessee Community College in the fall. “My ESL (English as a second language) teacher helped me a lot, and he would give me advice.” 

If he didn’t know who to turn to, his teachers at White Station were always there to help, whether it be finding a college counselor or working on his studies.  

“If I struggled, they’d tell me to stay after school for tutoring and help me a lot,” he said. “Even now, if I need something I can just ask for their help.” 

Now, Gabriel will be graduating in a month, and, thanks to the support of his teachers, coaches and mentors, he’ll be starting his degree in civil engineering in the fall, where he can combine his love for math and drawing as he designs public transportation. After that, he’ll be trying out for the local soccer team, Memphis 901 FC. 

“Engineering is my plan B, if soccer doesn’t work out,” Gabriel explained. “Since I was a kid, I used to go with my father to play soccer.” 

Eventually, he would like to make it all the way to Major League Soccer. But for now, he’s focusing on enjoying his last few weeks of high school before moving on to college. 

“It was exciting, amazing, great. Sometimes, I think I’m going to miss it,” he said. “I’m excited to go to college.” 

Gabriel, we are so proud of all that you have accomplished and wish you the best of luck as you start your time in college! We hope to see you on the 901 FC field in the future! 

If you want to play a part in the lives of immigrant and refugee youth in the community like Gabriel, consider joining our Youth Mentoring Program! Start today by filling out your application.