• Social Innovation Fellowship
Julia
Schuster

Award Year 

2010
Brown Refugee Youth Tutoring and Enrichment (BRYTE)

Brown Refugee Youth Tutoring and Enrichment (BRYTE) is a student-run organization that facilitates one-on-one tutoring and mentoring between Brown students and recently resettled refugees in the Providence area, coming from over sixteen countries. The program helps the underserved refugee population acquire crucial language skills as well as cultural fluency in a time of difficult transition. It also fosters meaningful relationships and promotes cross-cultural understanding. BRYTE works in collaboration with the International Institute of Rhode Island to both connect students with refugee tutees, and organize continuing enrichment events and opportunities.

Personal Statement

BRYTE has been an important part of my experience at Brown since I joined freshman year. Starting from my first visit to the family I would be working with, I have gained more of an understanding of the strengths and the challenges of communicating through language and cultural differences. The relationship that we have built over the past three years has shaped my outlook and made me more aware of the importance of the larger challenges of refugee resettlement. Over the past three years I have watched, and been honored to participate in, the rapid and meaningful evolution of BRYTE. The devoted volunteers, enthusiastic families, and supportive community partners are a constant force that enable BRYTE to continue making this progress.