SALT LAKE CITY — Saran Nahas marveled at how things had changed for refugees in Salt Lake City.
Nahas, a mother of five from Sierra Leone, said her eldest child was four years old when they left their refugee camp and relocated to Salt Lake City in 2004. Without her husband, who was unable to come with them at the time, Nahas said she relied on friends for clothes and money.
“Back then there was not much awareness about refugees,” Nahas said. “But now, people are coming out to help.”
Her reflections came Wednesday during Granite School District's first ever refugee outreach event, designed to help families like Nahas' access medical and educational resources.
“We’re trying to help refugees get in front of the kids’ issues — dental, vision, immunizations," said Deb Coffey, a development director with Granite Education Foundation and director at the Utah Refugee Center.
According to Coffey, 50,000 refugees live in Utah and 1,200 more arrive each year.
Most settle down in the Salt Lake Valley and send their children to Granite School District, which takes 70 percent of the refugee children in the county, Coffey said.
At the outreach event, Granite School District asked translators and local organizations like Community Nursing Services and Salt Lake Community College to talk to refugee families about their services.
As children carefully picked out free books from United Way and giggled at the taste and texture of fluoride at their dental screenings, their parents received cholesterol checks and talked to translators in Kirundi, Arabic and Burmese about health insurance and free and reduced lunch.
"I see so many things going on," said Nahas. "Helping kids with FAFSA, school immunizations, free and reduced lunch — it's like one stop."
More than anything, Coffey said she hoped the event would help refugees find a sense of community and “a friend that will help them transition and integrate.”
Theo Ndayishimiye, a Kirundi and Swahili translator, knows how hard that can be for a refugee.
The 21-year-old left a refugee camp in Tanzania eight years ago and moved to Utah.
Now, he's a full-time student at Salt Lake City Community College and a part-time case manager at the Asian Association of Utah Refugee and Immigrant Center.
Ndayishimiye said translating for refugee families helps them feel less isolated.
"They can communicate through me," Ndayishimiye said. "The way they express themselves, with so much respect — it's the personal bond. They see us, and they feel like we all are achieving together."
Email: dchen@deseretnews.com
Twitter: DaphneChen_