South Sudanese Enrichment for Families (formerly Sudanese Education Funds) Arlington, MA Mona worked with refugees from communities like the South Sudanese Bostonians. She taught English, Math, literacy, as well as GED prep in individual in addition to group settings to South Sudanese female refugees (six adult women, and five girls ages 3-11). Mona helped those families to get subsidized daycare, social services, and helped them with their public housing applications among others. The refugees are "immigrants from refugee camps in Africa, fleeing poverty, famine and war. They’ve arrived in a country not knowing the language, not possessing anything but their determination to make a better life for themselves and their children." (from South Sudanese Enrichment For Families)
Julia M. De Britto, Felicity House Program Manager New York, NY
Good Afternoon Esther,
Please accept our deepest condolences on your loss of Mona. We cannot imagine the depths of your grief, especially with the recent passing of her birthday in January.
Our staff feels very privileged to have gotten to know Mona over the summer at Felicity House. While we only knew her for a few months, we had the opportunity to see her light up when she talked about legos and watch her create beautiful, thoughtful artwork. One project she worked on at Felicity House was a volunteer service project for an elementary school in Harlem. We created “welcome back” posters for teachers to display in their classrooms for when children returned to school in the fall. Mona’s poster was beautiful, creative and incorporated different languages to make all the children feel welcome and included.
Again, we are so deeply sorry for your loss and hope this memory brings you a little light.
All the best, Felicity House Staff
Horizons For Homeless Children Mona worked with homeless children, in Massachussets, for quite some time. We never knew and found out about it recently. We keep finding out new things, even though almost 3 years have gone by. Horizons for Homeless Children quote from their website "is leading the fight in Massachusetts to help alleviate the trauma and stress of homelessness on both children and their families by providing high-quality early education, vital opportunities for play, support for parents, and crucial advocacy on behalf of some of our most marginalized citizens."