IRIS Welcomes Michael Van Leesten to our Board of Directors

Written by Grey Kupiec

Michael’s first personal experience with IRIS began a few years ago, when a friend and IRIS volunteer introduced Michael to a family from Afghanistan. As a muslim who has traveled extensively throughout North Africa and the Middle East, Michael and Shah Jahan, the father of the family, bonded through a shared cultural affinity and appreciation. Their friendship grew, and eventually Shah’s children entered a program for academic skills development that Michael oversaw. Earlier this year, when approached about serving on the IRIS board, Michael saw an opportunity to use his experiences as an organizational developer, an educator, and a person of color to help create impact for families like Shah’s. “IRIS and what it does interests me,” Michael says, “and I think I can contribute to IRIS being a better organization.”

Born and raised in Providence, Rhode Island, Michael earned undergraduate degrees in English and Economics from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Columbia Business School. After building a career as an executive in the financial and insurance industries, Michael earned his teaching certification in mathematics in 2005 and, motivated by a desire that stemmed from his experiences coaching youth soccer, embarked on a new career as a teacher. Michael has held teaching positions at The Foote School and Hopkins School, and served as Director and Director of Advancement of Hopkins School Pathfinder, an academic skills development program serving academically motivated students from New Haven and Bridgeport public and parochial schools. Since April 2020, Michael has served as Director of Organizational Development and Stakeholder Engagement at Social Venture Partners, a philanthropic network that seeks to cultivate funding, partnerships, and effectiveness for non-profit organizations.

As an IRIS board member, Michael will bring a strategic view to organizational operations and opportunity planning, and hopes to bring IRIS into the state’s growing sphere of activity and resources in areas like early childhood education and welfare, and career workforce development. Michael sees it as critical that resources like these be made available to the approximately half million immigrants in Connecticut. “That is a voice that needs to be heard in this conversation, it cannot be left out of it.”

Bahati, Refugee and Manager of IRIS Youth Programs and Education Advocacy

March 2020 | Written by John Curtis | Photography © John Curtis

Bahati Kanyamanza started organizing young people as a refugee at a camp in Uganda. Now he’s applying the lessons learned to youth in New Haven.

On a recent Wednesday afternoon, Bahati Kanyamanza sat in the cafeteria at the New Haven Free Public Library on Elm Street with IRIS staff and students from the Yale Refugee Project.

It was a weekly meeting to plan for IRIS youth programs the Yale students run for high school students, and Kanyamanza was there to learn about the program and the people involved. He started on January 29 as manager of IRIS youth programs and education advocacy and he’s still listening and learning about IRIS and the New Haven immigrant and refugee community. He’s visited IRIS programs and schools the students attend and has spoken at New Haven schools about refugees and immigration.

“One thing I’ve realized through the work I’ve been doing is that young people don’t know or appreciate the opportunities they have here, compared to young people around the world,” he said. “One of the things I want to emphasize is creating a program where young people learn as much as possible to benefit from all these opportunities around them.”

Kanyamanza has been organizing young people since 2005, when he was living in a refugee camp in Uganda and he and his friends wanted to do something about the forced and early marriages, prostitution, and drug use, as well as lack of access to education, that they saw around them.

“When we realized this was happening in 2005, we said we’re going to mobilize the young people to do productive work like farming, co-curricular activities, and sports,” he said.

They enlisted young people to help older camp residents with farming and household chores. They secured a plot of land from the government and started a primary school. In a nearby town they found a cheap house that they converted into a dormitory so students from the camp could attend high school. “We felt that education was the only way that would help us solve our problems in the future,” he said.

Kanyamanza finished high school in 2006 and went on to get a college degree, then a law degree while living in the camp. In 2016, after a six-year process, he came to the United States as a refugee with his wife and daughter.

He grew up in the town of Jomba in the Democratic Republic of Congo. His family—he was the oldest of nine children—were subsistence farmers, growing bananas, potatoes, yams, peas, sugar cane, and sorghum to make beer. Anything left over, they sold to pay for school and clothing.

In 1996 rebels raided his village in the Democratic Republic of Congo, taking him captive and forcing him and other boys to haul away stolen food. Until he escaped three months later, his captors required him to do domestic chores, like washing their clothes. He was shot during his escape and at a clinic met a woman who took him in, until her village was attacked. For the next three years, he wandered from village to village, moving on after each rebel attack until he landed in the Kyangwali camp in Uganda in 1999. There he reunited with his father, who took care of him until his death in 2006. He wouldn’t see his mother and siblings for another 15 years.

In the United States, Kanyamanza and his young family settled in Elizabeth, N.J., until he enrolled in a program in sustainable development at the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont. He received his master’s degree in 2019 and took a job at a Boys & Girls Club in Dallas, Texas, before coming to IRIS.

At IRIS, he replaces Dennis Wilson, who’ll be transitioning to Director of Education.

“One of the clearly outstanding things about Bahati is the work he has done with youth and education,” Wilson said. “When he was a refugee in Uganda, Bahati was essentially running an NGO that supported and educated other youth who were in the camps.”

Along with encouraging immigrant and refugee youths to take advantage of opportunities in New Haven, Kanyamanza has another goal, character development.

“Having worked with young people for 15 years, I see our communities can prosper if you have the right leaders,” he said. “These are the future leaders we are working with. My belief is that the better we prepare them, the better the society ahead of us.”

Yale Refugee Project and IRIS collaborate on youth programs

Written by John Curtis | Photography © John Curtis

Every Wednesday afternoon IRIS staff meet with students from the Yale Refugee Project who are dedicated to helping refugees, immigrants, and asylum seekers in the New Haven area. They have tutored refugees in English, helped them find jobs, and educated others on campus about immigration issues.

At a recent meeting, four YRP members planned upcoming weekly sessions with immigrant and refugee youths. Monday meetings cover academics and college prep, and on Fridays, they discuss issues of social justice.

An upcoming Friday meeting included a trip to the arts school to see an exhibit of paintings by a student from Afghanistan, followed by a visit to a residential college to make pizza. The students organizing the excursion, Khenzom Alling and Zahra Chaudhry, co-directors of YRP’s women’s group, were working out the logistics of fitting all this, including a walk across camps, into two and a half hours.

Both Alling and Chaudhry have family histories of immigration and refugees. Alling’s mother was a refugee from Tibet and Chaudhry’s parents emigrated from Pakistan. Alling said her volunteer work through the Yale Refugee project aligns with her academic interests—she’s majoring in ethnicity, race, and immigration. Chaudhry grew up in Milford and has been volunteering with IRIS since high school. “I wanted to continue to be part of it,” she said.

Also at the library meeting were Peter Steinmann, who leads the men’s group in the YRP Youth Leadership Program, and Tatiana Criucova.

was a refugee myself,” said Criucova. Her family came to the United States from Moldova, and she feels it’s important to help others. She’s particularly interested in college prep. “The college application process is hard enough as it is,” she said, without issues of language and culture.

Steinmann’s family emigrated from Germany when he was nine.

“My immigrant experience, compared to other people’s, is laughably easy. My experience was very privileged,” he said. “But I know about coming to the country and not speaking the language. I think I can help out and make them feel welcome.”

A Statement on Racial Injustice

Written by Weruche George | Photography & Videography © Rachel Peet

Racial injustice has gone on for far too long in this country and needs to come to an end. I’m quite happy America is finally on its knees, confronting this dark side, and hopefully, we’ll see efforts taken to fix the wrongs.

Regarding the killing of George Floyd — it was difficult for my kids and me to watch how that man’s life was taken from him, while he begged until his last breath.

Likewise, weeks after I found out how Breonna Taylor died in her house, I couldn’t speak about it because it hit too close to home for me as a black woman. Sadly, I too have faced racial discrimination at different levels of society, since I arrived here 15 years ago. 

The killing of innocent black people needs to stop. 

I believe one way to deal with this is to make systemic changes. The American education system needs a complete overhaul that incorporates inclusive education while highlighting history accurately.

We need to encourage black history to be told not only from the point of view of slavery. For this reason, educating the West about Africa devoid of stories about poverty, strife and war is imperative.

We need more stories and reflections on the culture and diversity that should be preserved and honored, the creativity of the different tribes and ethnic groups, the beauty and innovation of the people and so much more. These stories will help preserve the dignity of blacks.

Finally, it’s important to hold the West accountable for slavery, which is why I advocate for reparations for descendants of slavery. Believe me, this would not be enough to erase centuries of loss and pain, but it’ll be a start. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights…” Let’s not forget this.

Black lives do matter, and this should be represented at different levels of society. 

—Weruche U. George, Asylee from Nigeria 

Margaret and her sisters find jobs in COVID

Written by Jackson Frank | Photography © Rachel Peet

We’re friends. We work together. We do everything together. We’re family.” 

Margaret Mkambilwa and her sisters, Weoba and Furaha, are Congolese Refugees who came to the United States in 2018.

Margaret described her sisters as not just her family, but also her best friends.

Margaret and her two sisters worked at the same business for over a year.

When the COVID pandemic hit, the three sisters found new jobs at Amazon and began work just five days after losing their previous jobs, with the help of IRIS’ employment team.

Margaret and her sisters now work the same shifts at Amazon, often driving to work together in their newly purchased car. In addition to working long shifts, the sisters take ESL and High School classes at night for their professional development. 

When asked if her and her sisters ever get tired of each other, Margaret didn’t hesitate to say no. “Everybody is happy to be with each other. If somebody needs help, we help them out. We do everything together.” 

Connecticut is her home now, but her family still lives in a refugee camp

Written by Grey Kupiec | Photography © Rachel Peet | December 24, 2020

Badria smiles brightly when she says that Connecticut “feels like home.”

A native of Sudan, Badria lived in a Darfur refugee camp for two years before relocating multiple times, first to Egypt in 2005, and finally to the United States in 2014. When she first arrived with her husband and children, Badria had no formal education and spoke no English. Today, she speaks with pride when she lists the challenges she’s overcome; learning a new language, earning her driver’s license, gaining employment, and becoming an American citizen as of this month.

“She now feels like a family friend,” Badria says about Elaine, the volunteer she met through the Cultural Companion program at IRIS. In addition to making friends from Sudan and Iraq, she has also grown her immediate family, having welcomed twins since coming to Connecticut.

But even as she smiles with gratitude at finally being home, Badria still has family living in the refugee camp in Sudan. In 2014, when she came to the United States, the number of refugees admitted into the country was approximately 70,000. That figure, which is set each year by the President, has been lowered every year under the Trump administration. This year, up to 18,000 refugees will be welcomed into the United States; a reduction of roughly 74% since President Obama left office.

Badria remains hopeful that the politics will change soon, and she looks forward to casting her vote for the first time in the upcoming election.

Her first time voting was in the ‘Corona Historical Election.’

Story & Written by Grey Kupiec | Photo by Rachel Peet

According to the Associated Press, President Trump lost the 2020 election in the state of Connecticut by 365,879 votes. As one of those votes, Gladys is proud to be part of something larger. “I, personally, cannot believe that I am part of a mission to restore this nation of possibility.” 

A refugee originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, she might not have believed her one vote would matter prior to this election. However, after becoming a United States citizen two years ago, and with so much on at stake this time — the future of the DREAMers, the separation of migrant children from their parents, a chance to affirm the place of muslims within the nation’s fabric, solidifying the place of women in political leadership  — Gladys felt that her one vote would make an impact. 

“A majority of people don’t realize it, but even one vote can make a difference in so many people’s lives,” she says. “Especially the lives of those people whose lives are at stake.”

“I call it the Corona Historical Election,” Gladys says of her first voting experience. Despite the impacts of COVID on the voting process, on election day she and her family opted to stand in line, fill out their ballots, and experience it in person.
“It’s your first time voting in life, ever, so how do you make it feel like it’s an experience that no one can take away from you?” She says of her and her family’s decision to experience voting in person, “We were going to take that opportunity.” While the issues galvanized her, Gladys says that her family’s desire to seize the opportunity to participate as citizens of the United States, their home, was a huge motivation. 

Like much of the country, she found the delay in learning the election results to be stressful. “I couldn’t sleep,” she says of the days it took to count hers and the rest of the nation’s votes. The day the results were finally announced, she says her entire household literally jumped for joy when they learned that they had elected the next president, “I have never seen a joy like that before in my family.”

Gladys graduates college and gets ready to enter the workforce in COVID

Written by Grey Kupiec | Photo by Rachel Peet

After living as a refugee in Burundi for 13 years, Gladys is no stranger to uncertainty. Originally from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, during that time she and her family often wondered about their future, where money would come from, if they would be able to afford food. Due to her family’s limited financial means, she was unable to attend school for several years. After coming to the U.S. in 2013, she was able to learn English, attend school, and go to college.

Now, about to graduate from Central Connecticut State University, 

Gladys is again faced with uncertainty as she prepares to enter the workforce during the time of COVID. “That is a million-dollar question and I have a zero-dollar answer,” she says with a laugh when asked about her post-graduation plans. While she laments being unable to walk in her graduation, something she dreamed of as a child, she remains defiantly optimistic about what comes after.

“One thing that I do know is that I have to keep my mind open,” Gladys says when she talks about career possibilities. Being able to help her community is important to her, so she is excited about all of the opportunities for her to give back.  For now, Gladys says that she is “keeping myself available. I have to get ready to learn, be able to take action when it’s needed, and share and contribute to my community.”

In a future that may look like a question mark to many of us, Gladys sees only possibilities — to learn more, to get involved, and to contribute towards creating a better world. When considering her past and what she’s overcome to get to this moment, one can’t help feeling that a future full of possibility is not an uncertainty, but a sure thing.