Creating Jobs for Refugees

As we’ve pondered what it looks like to help refugees find jobs I have followed the blog of a company that is successfully creating answering to that question

The Providence Granola Project Mission: Giving International Refugees a Boost in the Job Market

The Providence Granola Project was conceived as a way to give refugees a boost toward employability (and in the spirit of full disclosure, to make a little money).

The idea isn’t long-term employment so much as a way to help people who have a lot of obstacles in their way get a foot in the job market–an initial experience, something on the resume. Our first employee was a woman originally from Burundi (via Tanzania) named Berita Ndizeeye. She has 9 children, plus a couple grandchildren, and arrived in Providence this past summer speaking no English and not literate in her own language (Kirundi). She’s been attending ESL and Life Skills classes with us since she arrived. I wouldn’t say she’s learned much English, but she has a great attitude and she does manage to make herself understood when it’s necessary. She helped us make our first large batch of granola. It was pretty comical. We weren’t even sure if she understood why she was working or if we were paying her, but that didn’t seem to matter. The granola came out better than ever. When Keith dropped her off afterwards, he went upstairs to check in with one of her kids who speaks more English to see if she had any questions. The only thing she wanted to know is if we’d hire her again.

Berita has a job

So check this out everybody. Our first employee, Berita, mother of nine and refugee from Burundi, has found a job. We, of course, are thrilled. Not that we’ve had any doubts that anyone who can pull heavy pans in and out of a hot oven or wrestle our 60 lb vat of honey with Berita’s enthusiasm would make a great employee. But considering her limited English and almost total lack of experience in the American workplace, she was facing a challenge.

This comes as a shot of encouragement for us. I work alongside everyone else in our Friday night granola factory and I know first-hand what my muscles feel like the next day. I have to admit, especially during these initial few months of heavy start-up expenses, there are moments when I wonder WTOF (what the organic flax) I’ve gotten myself into. It’s awfully nice to see our idea working.

As I see it, the main thing we are teaching our employees in this project is confidence—confidence that they can learn new skills, that they can communicate across almost any language barrier, and that they can be a crucial part of a team. Our hope is that what Berita learned with us played some part in helping her interview for and get a job, and that it will make her upcoming transition more smooth and less frightening. We will miss her.