Every week, Henry Peck '11 leaves College Hill to tutor Christopher Bihiga, a 23-year-old Rwandan refugee, in English, math and computer skills.
"When you have someone to guide you, you can do anything in America," Bihiga said of the tutoring.
Far from being a lone good samaritan, Peck is just one of the 129 tutors of the Brown Refugee Youth Tutoring and Enrichment, an organization that partners students with resettled people in Providence to tutor and mentor them. The group will debut an exhibit of their mentees' photography next month.
In the summer of 2006, Leah Harrison '08 ran an academic summer camp for refugee students through the International Institute of Rhode Island, which provides educational, legal and social services to immigrants and refugees. She wanted to extend the program, so she established BRYTE in the fall, starting out with 30 volunteers. The program now serves 42 families, co-coordinator Aliza Kreisman '10 wrote in an e-mail to The Herald.
BRYTE works with non-English speaking and illiterate adults, as well as school-age children because many of the participants "have had volatile lives and (a) sporadic educational background," Kreisman wrote.
The tutors spend a minimum of three hours per week with students. They provide academic and literacy support and help the refugees acclimate to Rhode Island and American culture. The tutors also take students and their families on enriching outings, like going to museums, apple picking or attending an event at Brown, Kreisman wrote. Because each individual receives a tutor, there is more than one tutor per family, and tutors often work together.
For its upcoming photography exhibit, the group purchased 100 disposable cameras and gave them to their tutees. For 10 days, the refugees were encouraged to take photographs of their homes and neighborhoods in Providence. "Photography is fun, especially for the younger students," Peck said. "The exhibit will show a world not often seen at Brown, through (the refugees') lenses."
BRYTE's exhibit of refugees' photography debuted on Nov. 2 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Brown-RISD Hillel.
According to Francis Gonzales '11, a co-coordinator of the exhibit, photography is a powerful tool that has both benefits and drawbacks. He said the media and many organizations photograph underdeveloped countries to elicit a public response and to receive donations, which can help the organization's cause.
But the increased use of such photography can desensitize the public and does not directly benefit the subjects by taking control from them, hindering their ability to project their own image. Photography can become "development pornography," Gonzales said. The BRYTE project is designed to shift the power of photography from outsiders to the refugees themselves.
"The community members should be able to choose the pictures that are projected," Gonzales said.
"The project gives them the power through the process (of taking photos) and the ownership of the products of their work," Levenson said.
After the exhibit, the participants will be given their photographs to emphasize ownership and empowerment.
During the debut, African Cultural Dancers, a refugee dance group led by Bihiga, performed. After Nov. 9, the exhibit will move to the Watson Institute for International Studies until the end of the semester.
