Ali Dawoodi arrived in Northern Virginia from Afghanistan about two years ago, just before the coronavirus hit. His father had been working in the United States for several years, and was finally able to bring his family over to join him. Dawoodi, the oldest son, had finished high school, and was interested in pursuing college and a career in the United States.
But there was so much to learn.
“Everything was new for me,” he said. “We knew nothing about the culture, about English, about how to communicate with people.”
His father learned about a program that sounded perfect for Dawoodi, now 21. Called Mentoring Youth in Virginia (MYVA), it is offered through diocesan Catholic Charities, one of the primary organizations that has resettled more than 8,500 Afghan refugees in Northern Virginia in the past few years.
A state program funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement, MYVA supports educational and vocational advancement for teen and young adult refugees between ages 15 and 24. Young people are matched with trained mentors, who work with them for about a year. The program also offers online college readiness workshops and speakers on career topics.
Dawoodi was matched with Jerry Edwards of South Riding, a business professional who has volunteered with youth and literacy organizations for more than 20 years. When the pandemic shut down many in-person volunteer opportunities, Edwards shifted to online mentoring through Catholic Charities, and began meeting with Dawoodi on Zoom twice a week for an hour, exceeding the program’s requirement of four hours a month.
“I can only imagine if I moved to another culture, how challenging that would be,” said Edwards, who initially focused on helping Dawoodi work on his English, then expanded to discussing U.S. culture, job interviews and other topics.
A regional district manager for the ULTA beauty chain, Edwards spends a lot of time on the road visiting retail locations. So, in addition to the Zoom meetings, he invited Dawoodi, of Alexandria, to call him on the phone, where he can chat from his car via speakerphone. “He can ask me anything — nothing is off limits,” said Edwards, adding that they’ve discussed everything from vocabulary and pronunciation to Americans’ wide-ranging views on immigration.
“It’s very challenging to do ESL (English as a Second Language) via Zoom. But Ali had a can-do attitude that exceeded my expectations every day,” said Edwards. “If I gave him 25 words to learn, he learned 50. He was exceeding any type of curriculum we could give him, and learning way faster than I ever expected.”
Stephen Decker, a youth support specialist with Catholic Charities Migration and Refugee Services, said the MYVA program is designed to support newcomers who are “in that crucial crossroads between high school and college, Big Brother-Big Sister style.”
Diocesan Catholic Charities has worked with about 75 clients so far, and more mentors are needed to work with additional clients. It takes about a month for volunteers to go through training and background checks.
Decker said the program’s benefits extend far beyond the young adults served. “It contributes to making our community stronger by building bridges between people who would not otherwise have had an opportunity to meet, and helping them to learn about each other’s cultures.”
Dawoodi, now a confident English speaker who drives and goes to the gym, said having a mentor to ask about “life in the United States, about people, business and college,” has been a huge help in accomplishing his goals. He’s working on a degree in information technology and software development at Northern Virginia Community College.
He has a job doing data entry and working for an online computer help desk to help support his family of seven (mom, dad, a sister age 23, and three younger brothers, ages 18, 8 and 7 months). He previously honed his job skills at Taco Bell (where he discovered a taste for tacos) and at Amazon. He’s also taken JAVA programming classes on YouTube.
Now considered a graduate from the MYVA program, Dawoodi is “very disciplined about studying, praying, exercising and working to help support his family,” said Edwards.
“We live in an area that’s very multicultural, and you can meet people from across the world. I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to get to know Ali and his family, and learn about their foods and their culture.”
He’s now mentoring three other teens online, but expects to stay in touch with Dawoodi — whether to help or to cheer for his continued successes.
“In some relationships, I don’t know if it ever ends,” Edwards said. “I’m not going anywhere, and he knows I’m always available.”
Find out more
April is National Volunteer Month. Learn more about Catholic Charities programs to support Afghan refugees at bit.ly/Help-refugees or volunteer to be a mentor by emailing [email protected] or calling 703/677-2682.
