About Me

1. Name: Rekha Thapa Chhetri
Major: Psychology
Minor: Psychologyof Crimeand Justice
Internship Role: Catholic CharitiesRefugeeResettlement, K-12 Program
My Experience as a Social Justice Intern
My name is Rekha Thapa Chhetri, and I have been very fortunate to be
awarded the Social Justice Internship grant and service opportunity. I was
placed at the Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement K-12 Program. TheK-
12 program at the Refugee Resettlement office of Catholic Charities supports many
refugee children and families as they integrate into the U.S. educational system.
The services offered to the refugee families through Catholic Charities are
indispensable to having them successfully transition. My specific role as an intern

2. in the K-12 education program includes multiple responsibilities, such as helping
families enroll children in schools, assisting staff with afterschool tutoring,
assisting during parent-teacher conferences, and administering ESL tests. The
services provided to these families and children are specifically catered to their
needs, and the services are provided in many ways. My supervisor and I frequently
do home visits to provide parental orientation, administrator English tests, and
assist the family/children with any other issues/challenges that they are facing.
My role at Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement is not limited to K-12
programs. I also help other departments (Job Development, Case Managers) to
translate languages (Nepali and Hindi). The opportunity to assist refugee children
with their homework/schoolmaterials is very rewarding for me becausethese
children struggle a lot to make themselves compatible with others in their classes
who are raised in the U.S. and whose first language is English. I am very inspired
by the efforts that refugee children and families put in just to integrate into the U.S.
educational system and to learn the U.S culture.
More about Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement K-12
Program and Refugee
For more than 40 years, Catholic Charities
has helped refugees resettle and call Chicago home.
Each year we resettle more than 200 refugees.
A refugee is someone who is unable to return
to his or her home country because of persecution
due to race, religion, nationality, membership in
a particular social, economic, or political group.
Currently the world wide hot spots for refugees
include: Syria, Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Sudan, Somalia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Myanmar (Burma).
www.catholiccharities.net/Portals/0/Programs%20and%20Services/Refugee%20R
esettlement/RefugeeResettlment_FS_040716.pdf?ver=2017-01-31-131556-760