Refugee Resettlement Program seeking new student ambassadors

By Mary Ann Garber

Life-changing.

Bishop Chatard High School junior Andria Assalley will never forget her incredible experiences as a student ambassador for the archdiocesan Catholic Charities Indianapolis Refugee Resettlement Program.

“The gift I have been given by working with this program is bigger than you or I,” Andria explained during a recent speech. “It’s bigger than money or a car for your 16th birthday.

“I’ve been given the ability to change lives,” she said, “and today I stand here a new person and can tell you that this is the best gift of all.”

A gift, she realized, that is priceless.

Andria, who is a member of St. Simon the Apostle Parish in Indianapolis and resides in Fishers, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese, was one of nine high school or college age student ambassadors who each earned a $500 stipend by participating in the Refugee Resettlement Program’s 2010-11 service learning effort.

This month, high school and college students are invited to apply for a service learning position before the Sept. 29 application deadline.

Seven students will be selected to assist the Refugee Resettlement staff with educational outreach and fundraising efforts.

They also will have opportunities to meet and help refugee families from several countries that are being resettled in central Indiana by the federal government and U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“We had a very successful year with nine student ambassadors last year,” said Hellen Sanders, who coordinates the student ambassador program.

“Student ambassadors must be willing to learn about the refugee program and promote it to others,” she said, “organize donations at their schools and plan an end-of-year event.”

After participating in an Oct. 13 orientation session, student ambassadors will work with the staff to greet refugee families arriving at the Indianapolis International Airport then help them get settled in their apartments, and accustomed to life in a new country with a different language and unfamiliar culture.

“Walking with the refugees really opened her eyes,” Sanders said about Andria. “She wanted to make a difference in their lives.”

Gabrielle Campo, director of the Refugee Resettlement Program for Catholic Charities Indianapolis, said the young adults who helped last year were committed to promoting the mission of the refugee program.

“The ambassador program was highlighted in February 2010 by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops as a national promising practice,” Campo said. “Other sites are initiating the program this year. The program empowered our young adults to learn about the refugee community, advocate on their behalf and utilize their leadership skills.

“When I heard one ambassador speak at his parish, I was so proud,” she said. “I was proud of his abilities as a high school student to articulate the program and the need. I was inspired to know that at his young age he would be forever changed by the refugee experience.”

Serving as a student ambassador educates teenagers about a world bigger than their own, Campo explained, as they in turn educate other students and adults about the needs of refugees forced to flee from their homelands.

In a year’s time, she said, the first group of student ambassadors collected 20,000-plus items valued at $60,000 to help refugee families.

They also shared the refugee story with the student body, faculty and staff at nine parishes, four high schools and one university, Campo said, for audiences that totaled about 2,500 people.

The student ambassadors also completed more than 300 volunteer hours while helping 470 refugees, she said, and displayed their leadership skills by planning the inaugural Catholic Charities Indianapolis World Refugee Day dinner and program on June 20 at the Archbishop O’Meara Catholic Center.

That fundraiser drew more than 250 people for a meal of ethnic foods and an inspirational speech by human rights activist John Dau, now a resident of Syracuse, N.Y., who as a youth was one of the “Lost Boys of Sudan.”

(For more information about the Catholic Charities Indianapolis Refugee Resettlement student ambassador program, call Hellen Sanders at 317-236-1528 or 800-382-9836, ext. 1528, or send an e-mail to her at hsandersr@archindy.org before the Sept. 29 application deadline.) †