Meet Babesh
"Before FORA, he wasn’t able to read well and had difficulty with pronunciation. But after two or three months, he improved greatly. Even his school teachers commented on his progress.” Jyoti, Babesh's mom, said.
When Jyoti and her son Babesh began a new chapter of their lives in Chicago in January 2015, they considered
themselves lucky to have been resettled in America, where the standard of living is higher than in the refugee
camp where they had lived for the previous three years. However, just because electricity and water and medical
care were now readily accessible, starting a new life in America was far from easy.
“I missed my home country, and everything was a new experience,” Jyoti explained. “Every system was different,
and I needed help with understanding everything. The paperwork especially was very difficult.” What Jyoti
worried about most, though, was her son’s education. Despite knowing very little English, Babesh was entering
into Chicago Public Schools as a third grade student. And although Jyoti had worked as a teacher in Nepal, she
felt completely unable to help her son navigate his new school’s homework, causing her lots of stress.
“It was really awkward,” said Babesh. “There were a lot of things I didn’t know, and I didn’t have any friends yet.”
For homework help, Babesh would go to his cousin, because she had already been living in the United States for
awhile. However, knowing the importance of a good education, Jyoti still worried about her son and his future.
On her walks, Jyoti passed by FORA and saw students and tutors working together. She wanted her son to be a student there too. “Every day I requested for Babesh to receive tutoring from FORA,” said Jyoti. “I was so happy when he was accepted. Before FORA, he wasn’t able to read well and had difficulty with pronunciation. But after two or three months, he improved greatly. Even his school teachers commented on his progress.”
To Babesh and Jyoti, FORA is more than just a tutoring center. FORA is a community where Babesh feels happy, welcomed, and surrounded by friends — peers and staff alike.“Babesh has changed a lot because of FORA,” explained Jyoti. “He is happier, and FORA is also able to teach him skills like politeness, respect for everyone, and how to interact with adults. I have never seen anything like it. My son has never missed one class, because he loves going to FORA. He even goes early and stays late.” “FORA helps in other ways too,” Jyoti continued. “They help me to understand my papers and emails, and they have helped a lot with Babesh’s school.” Kathleen O’Connor, FORA's Chief Education Officer, would go to school meetings and speak with Babesh’s teachers, finding out what he needed to do to improve his grades. Additionally, Kathleen and Michael helped guide Jyoti through the process of finding and applying for the best high school for Babesh. “They take care of everyone,” said Jyoti. “It’s like family.” When asked about their experience as refugees in Nepal, Jyoti explained that “in Nepal, people look down on refugees. They think refugees are not human beings. It is very difficult.” She and her family moved to various Nepali states before living in a refugee camp from 2012 to 2015. Life in the refugee camp was extremely challenging, because of the lack of essentials like accessible electricity, water, and sanitation.
Since coming to America, Jyoti feels that her family’s safety has improved, as well as their health and living standards. Babesh has only a few memories of life in the refugee camp, but described how it was very big and they lived there with many of their relatives. In 2012, the family applied with the United Nations Refugee Agency, UNHCR, to be resettled in another country. In January 2015 they finally arrived in Chicago, and since then have welcomed into the family another son, who is now nine years old. Today, Babesh is a sophomore at Bradley University. “He's an extraordinary young man, and it's such a joy to know him,” said Babesh's former tutor.
