Making their way in the world

Intermountain Catholic

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Ngun Hoi Tial, originally from Myanmar, stands to receive her high school graduation gift during the May 30 celebration in Liberty Park sponsored by Catholic Community Services for graduates in the Refugee Foster Care program. Applauding her from left are Noella Mukeshimana and Musabyemana Dantsira, both from Uganda; and Jose Escobar, from El Salvador. Mukeshimana and Escobar also are members of the Class of 2012. IC photo/Marie Mischel

SALT LAKE CITY — Ngun Tial and Cung Thang have faced challenges that most Americans see only on television. They are both natives of Myanmar, a country that has had civil unrest for decades. They came to the United States without speaking English, knowing no one. Thang’s parents died when he was young, leaving him, his brother and sister to make their own way. Tial was able to get a visa to come to the U.S., but her mother, brothers and grandmother remain in Myanmar.

Despite these obstacles, this year Thang completed his Job Corps training and Tial graduated from Hill Creek High School. Like many graduates, Tial isn’t sure of her next step, whether she will attend community college or move out of state to live with a cousin. Thang represents a different aspect of graduating students: He is looking for a job as an auto technician.

The two are among the 15 students from seven different countries in Catholic Community Services’ Refugee Foster Care program to graduate this year. In all, 70 students are in the program, all refugees or trafficking victims who have been brought to the United States as unaccompanied minors through the federal Office of Refugee Resettlement.

Once in Utah, the students are placed in foster homes that are licensed by the state. The CCS program helps them learn English and other necessary skills, such as how to manage a bank account, apply for scholarships and get a job.

CCS’ program is the only one of its kind in Utah and one of about a dozen in the United States, said Lauren McCarty, CCS’ public relations and marketing coordinator. "The main goal of the program is family reunification and self-sufficiency," she said.

Education is emphasized, she added, especially for students whose native cultures don’t stress formal knowledge. Many students in the program want to get a job immediately after high school to help care for family members, but they are shown that a college degree brings in a higher salary than a high school diploma.

"Most of them go to college," said program coordinator Buu Diep, a graduate of the program who came to Utah at the age of 13 from a refugee camp in Vietnam. She now holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s degree in social work and criminology from the University of Utah.

Thang credits his four years in the CCS program with helping him succeed. "When we need help, we tell them and they do whatever they can," he said. He likes working on cars, and "I told them that and they found the best place and they sent me there," he said.

CCS will sponsor a presentation on June 20 about what happens to child and teen refugees who are without parents, and how the community can get involved.