The Refugee Youth Project, otherwise known as RYP, is an after-school program for refugees at Moravia Elementary School that allows for a safe and encouraging environment for refugee children to get their homework done and better their English skills. A refugee is someone who has fled his or her country due to a fear of persecution for various reasons. When refugees, especially children, flee another country and come to America, they experience a bit of a culture shock. It takes them a while to get used to the things that we do differently here that they might not experience in their native country. Most of the refugees in Baltimore come from Myanmar, Bhutan, Eritrea, Iraq, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Upon arriving in Baltimore, they are faced with many challenges including learning English, homesickness, bullying and discrimination, etc. When the students come to RYP after school, they are looking forward to seeing friendly faces and getting help from people who are welcoming and whom they can count on and look up to.

Being a volunteer for RYP requires a training session, where the volunteers are informed on the background of some of the refugees, the process they went through in order to be documented in the US, and how to react and deal with certain situations that might be encountered at the tutoring itself. The days that are offered for volunteering at RYP are Tuesday and Wednesday. The bus leaves NDP at around 3:15 pm, and returns around 6:15 pm. Upon arriving at RYP, the students will eat a snack and listen to a few announcements, and then the intermediate and advanced students do homework with the volunteers. After their time is up, the beginner students come back to work on their homework with the volunteers. At the very end of RYP, the students and volunteers do a quick clean up before playing games together. When it is finally time to come to an end, the volunteers line up in a line, and the students walk down the line giving hugs and high fives to all of the volunteers.

Volunteers are expected to show happiness and encouragement towards the students and aid them with homework and other fun, educational activities. Not only is it important to be a mentor to the children, but also a friend. It is important to be someone who is reliable and who the children can count on because they might be having a problem fitting in and connecting with some of the children who do not necessarily understand them. Volunteering at RYP is not just a fun and necessary experience for the refugees, but also for the volunteers who are devoted to helping and being there for the kids, and who look forward to going back to RYP the next week to see their special friends!