World Refugee Day 2025

This World Refugee Day, a New Arrival and His Mentor Build a Bond

June 20, 2025 | As two self-described “nerds,” Sylvia and Vansley spend much of their time together tinkering with an Arduino machine, building projects like a light-sensitive buzzer or a digital hourglass. The two talk and laugh as they discuss what brought them together.

Vansley, 18, fled the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and lived in Malawi before his family was resettled in Minnesota in late 2024. Now, as Vansley rebuilds his life here with dreams of becoming an electrical engineer, he’s part of a new International Institute of Minnesota program that pairs recent arrivals with a volunteer mentor.

Sylvia, an engineer who emigrated years ago from Asia, meets with Vansley weekly. As his mentor, she helps him think about his future career options, but their time together goes beyond engineering talk.

“Having gone through the struggles myself of figuring out basic life necessities ─ like logistics of how to get to the post office or how to see the doctor, for example ─ I thought maybe I could help support other people who are newly arrived and are in the same situation,” Sylvia said about her reason for volunteering.

She helps Vansley learn about everyday life here, from navigating public transportation and visiting the local pharmacy, to learning about the different ethnicities, foods, belief systems and religions that make up Minnesota’s population.

“She helps me to visit different places, which helps me to meet with different people and have different enlightenment,” Vansley said.

Aside from working on the Arduino kit, the mentor-mentee duo have so far visited Como Park, the Bell Museum, the Science Museum of Minnesota, and tried Thai food at a local restaurant. “He loved the food,” Sylvia shared.

Building More Than Circuits

Programs like this one are particularly important as the current presidential administration ended funding for social services that provided connection while new arrivals acclimated to a new country and culture. Volunteers can help new arrivals feel less isolated and encourage them along the way.

“Understanding systems and navigating systems in America, alone, was difficult,” Sylvia remembered about her own move to the U.S. long ago. “A lot of things were difficult. One of the most difficult was lack of companionship.”

In her mentorship role with Vansley, she hopes to give back by helping someone who’s currently navigating a similar situation.

“Now I have accomplished my dream of becoming an engineer and I have a stable career, thanks to a lot of people I met here who gave me guidance,” she said. “So when I heard Van wants to be an engineer and he also moved here when he was very young, I felt like I resonated with that a lot.”

From Snowfall to STEM Dreams

Vansley arrived in Minnesota last December, on his 18^th birthday, shocked at the cold.

“My feet were full of snow,” he said with a laugh.

Now, he’s finishing high school here, learning new things every day and dreaming of his future.

“Being here, my career is to be an electric engineer. I’m trying to push harder and learning mathematics,” Vansley said. “I must do it. I’m going to make it.”

Mentorship That Matters

“Habari yako,” Sylvia said with a smile as Vansley’s mother entered the room. It’s Sylvia’s attention to details like that ─ learning a few Swahili words to say during visits ─ that has helped build trust between the mentor, mentee and his family.

Their conversations now take a deeper turn between jokes and bus rides, as they share about their different religious beliefs, or as Vansley confides in her about his experiences of the conflict in the DRC.

“She is my mentor, but we are like friends. She likes to try new things, same as me,” Vansley said.

As the pair’s official three-month program commitment draws closer to the end, they discuss staying in touch beyond the program’s end.

Volunteering as a mentor “brings you really close to a person’s life, who has lived a very different life than you. You get to learn new perspectives, new stories and experiences, and earn their trust. It’s a great experience,” Sylvia said.

She turns to Vansley with a smile and after talking a bit more about future Arduino projects, she says to him, “I hope you can achieve your dream of becoming an electrical engineer. I’d like to give you the help that you need.”

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Reported and written by Alisa Blackwood, Communications Specialist at the International Institute of Minnesota. Alisa’s work at the Institute comes after years of writing for publications and organizations such as The Associated Press, O, The Oprah Magazine, and more. She hopes her writing about Institute clients, students and staff bring to life the stories behind the news headlines.