The terror of mass murder drove hundreds of thousands of Hutus and Tutsis from the Central African country of Burundi into Rwanda and the Congo River Basin during the late 20th century. And when genocide swept through Rwanda more than a decade later, hundreds of thousands walked on to Tanzania and hoped-for safety.
But Tanzania was a false hope. Violence continued as part of the refugees’ daily experience, and men often raped women and girls as they searched for firewood outside their camps.
When a change in policies in the new millennium made it virtually impossible for Burundians to remain in Tanzania, the United Nations sought their resettlement elsewhere. Sixty thousand refugees came to the United States.
In 2007, Burundians began arriving in East Tennessee, typically without cultural ties or English language skills to help them cope in the strange new land.
Bridge Refugee Services, a nonprofit organization affiliated with ministries and the Tennessee Department of Human Services, stepped forward to assist in the immediate transition and early exposure to U.S. culture.
Working alongside Bridge is Healing Transitions, a community-based research and service initiative created and run by two College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences faculty members, Denise Bates and Allison Daniel Anders.
In 2009, Healing Transitions—through the work of Bates, Anders, and UT Knoxville graduate students from several departments—provided more than 775 hours of community service to Burundians. Faculty members and students designed and coordinated community education seminars on nutrition, over-the-counter medications, women’s health, parenting, and education. Healing Transitions provided childcare, tutored children in English after school, designed and facilitated community education workshops about refugee status and cultural diversity for local schools and teaching interns, and secured professional physical and mental health support for Burundian community members through Cherokee Health Systems.
In coordination with Sport 4 Peace—a national organization founded by two UT Knoxville faculty members and dedicated to improving sporting opportunities for girls and women around the world—and the Lady Vols soccer team, Healing Transitions also organized a soccer camp for more than 60 Burundian children.
For these Burundian children, most of whom were born in the refugee camps in Tanzania and have never seen their native land, the culture of East Tennessee is totally alien. Through the help of Healing Transitions, they are learning to adapt and hoping for a better future.
DIVERSITY
The new Achieve the Dream scholarship began assisting middle-income students and families this past fall. The program rounds out UT’s need-based programs—the Tennessee Pledge and the Tennessee Promise—which, combined, benefitted 24 percent of this year’s in-state freshmen.
As for the UT students, it has been a learning experience for them as well. They have received from the Burundians at least as much as they have given; and, as Anders notes, the cultural exchanges they have had during the past year will likely shape the values that will guide them for the rest of their lives.
Find out about UT Knoxville’s programs to help all our students feel welcome and effective in an increasingly diverse community.
