Refugee relief
By Daniel Reinish | November 15, 2006Bridging the Gap, a community service organization that recently attained CIO status, has become one part of a larger relief network for African refugees now living in Charlottesville. The group, founded by fourth-year College student Clay Broga, is a mentoring program for refugee children, many of whom Broga said are not yet proficient in English or fully adjusted to life in Charlottesville. While helping the children to more fully develop their own cultural understanding of America, volunteers provide numerous needed services, such as tutoring (particularly in reading) and transportation to activities such as soccer practice, third-year College student Bobby Corrigan explained. The children are not needy in the literal sense, Corrigan said, pointing out that food and clothing are not the issue. Rather, they are "needy in terms of stimuli and coming out and doing things," Corrigan said. With many parents working multiple jobs at inconvenient times, mentors often help fill in the gap, Broga explained. Broga said he wants to help the parents instill the values of education and morals, hoping to ultimately see many of these children become college or job applicants. "It's Parenting 101," Broga said, referring to how he had to learn to handle the emotional ups and downs and realize occasional mean behavior does not translate to a lack of appreciation. Corrigan said he likens the organization's goals in some ways to a relatively casual version of Big Brother Big Sister, with the more specific task of serving as a segue between life in Africa and America. Bridging the Gap is unique in that it addresses "a pocket of the population that is largely ignored," Broga said.
