Refugee youths find safe haven in Boy Scouts of America
EVERGREEN, Colo. — Boy Scouts Jean Tuyishime and Moise Tuyikunde sit around a crackling campfire under a canopy of stars in Colorado's Rocky Mountains, joking and teasing each other as adolescent brothers tend to do. Only two and a half years ago, they were a world away living at the crowded Gihembe refugee camp, built on a sprawling and dusty expanse of land in northern Rwanda.
The brothers were born in the camp after their parents fled violence in 1996 in what was then known as Zaire. They relocated with their family to the Denver area in 2014, and they gradually assimilated into their new surroundings, learning to speak enough English to get by and signing up for a quintessential American experience — Boy Scouts.
But the troop Jean, 15, and Moise, 12, joined is not like many others in the United States. Troop 1532 is composed almost entirely of refugees who hail from far-flung places like Burma, Rwanda and Nepal.
At campouts, traditional American food like hot dogs and trail burgers is replaced by fish head stew, fire-roasted corn and Chatpate, a popular Nepalese street snack. S'mores are still a staple.
While the troop deals with challenges and problems unique to the refugee population, its leaders say it also helps kids adjust to American culture while providing an additional refuge.
“It's somewhere where they can be totally unafraid to be their authentic self,” said Justin Wilson, one of the troop's leaders and the executive director of the nonprofit group Scouts for Equality.
The political climate seems stacked against refugees and immigrants in general, he said at the recent campout, where multiple languages filled the air and scouts kicked a soccer ball between several well-worn A-frame tents.
“I think it's really important for them to see that people care about them, that people are going out of their way to provide a service for refugees,” Wilson said.
Troop 1532, formed in 2014, also provides a blueprint for other Boy Scout groups to attract some of the tens of thousands of refugees who could make the United States home in the coming years.
It's unclear how many of the nation's 2.3 million scouts are refugees, but “few programs are as equipped to help children learn and embrace American culture,” Effie Delimarkos, a Boy Scouts of America spokeswoman, said in an e-mail.
“Scouting also helps build resiliency in children that have lived through more than any child should have to bear,” she said, noting the organization emphasizes “duty to country and proactive citizenship.”
But Wilson and Dr. P.J. Parmar, a physician who started the troop in conjunction with a refugee clinic he runs in the Denver area, say the kids' varied backgrounds present unique challenges that more homogenous troops don't face.
Difficulties keeping adult leaders and maintaining membership make it hard to focus on earning merit badges and advancing in rank.
Jean's father, Jean Batacoka, a 37-year-old housekeeper with five children, says the efforts of Wilson and Parmar have had a meaningful effect on his kids.
“What they do down there is not just leadership, because they learn discipline, how to behave, how to respect people who are older than them,” he said through a Kinyarwanda translator. “I think it's a really good thing for them, and I can see something is happening.”
