Exemplifying the Importance of a Strong Community: Meet Fayo
by Trudy Ender, Refugee Education Center Executive Director
This year has again proven the value of and need for community. Whether it’s been interactions with family, friends, co-workers, or even simple interactions with a stranger at the grocery store, I have been buoyed by and crave connection after our lives were turned upside-down during the pandemic.
We recently shared a story that highlighted the adage that it takes a village to raise a child, and in case you missed it, the blog highlighted how one student’s village helped him, in a multi-year journey, overcome his crippling anxiety and isolation to begin to thrive in his new home and school environments.
This story exemplifies the importance of a strong community and reminded me of how the Refugee Education Center started — with a small group of refugee parents supporting one another and each other’s children. What started as friends and neighbors supporting each other has now resulted in over 15 years of support for thousands of refugees in West Michigan!
As an organization, we are proud to have served thousands of our new neighbors. Still, we are committed to recognizing individual stories of growth and impact and the power of supporting just one person. Our founder, Fredrick Bw’Ombongi, lived out this philosophy and instilled it in the organization. Fred helped many individuals and families, including two individuals who had been supported many years ago, who have chosen to dedicate their careers to supporting a new generation of children with refugee backgrounds. Let me introduce you to one of them.
Fayo Feto, the Refugee Education Center’s volunteer coordinator, was born in Grand Rapids to Oromo parents who were resettled through the refugee resettlement program by way of Ethiopia. Fayo’s parents, who were new to the US education system but invested in their daughter’s education, turned to Fred, a colleague at Spectrum Health. Fred met with the Fetos and other refugee parents to help them understand how they could be involved in their children’s education and help their children succeed.
The Fetos, along with other refugee parents, typically make the difficult and life-changing decision to flee their home countries and apply for asylum. One of their goals is to make a better life for their children. It is incredibly difficult for these parents when they move across continents and then feel unable to support their children to the fullest. Parents work night and day to acclimate to their new environment, and what we often hear from parents is relief that programs exist to help them, help their children, and for their children to receive additional support.
For Fayo, the Refugee Education Center’s afterschool program, Project Faulu, meant a great deal. Knowing she could count on attending the center after school and that her volunteer tutor would be there as constant support was profound.
Fayo also met lifelong friends while attending Project Faulu, with whom she could share experiences and support each other. Fayo graduated from East Kentwood High School and was the first person in her immediate family to earn a bachelor’s degree (from Central Michigan University). She then became driven to give back by interning and working for the Refugee Education Center, supporting other children with similar backgrounds. Fayo grew up attending and growing in Project Faulu, and now she gets to see the program's impact from a new vantage point.
Fayo’s story exemplifies how the Refugee Education Center has sustained support and grown over the last 15 years, from a small parents support group to providing direct services to hundreds of families each year. We are so grateful for all those who have helped make this reality. Parents, staff, dedicated volunteers, community partners, and gracious financial supporters, it takes an entire village and creates lasting, and even generational, impact.
If you would like to get involved with the Refugee Education Center, and support impactful experiences and stories like this one, please consider donating or viewing our volunteer opportunities. We’re all in this together!