WASHINGTON, DC — Esther Ngemba knows what it’s like to suddenly leave your hometown and face questions not only about your safety but also about the continuation of your education.

In 2006, at the age of five, she fled with her family from the eastern Congo city of Bukavu to Uganda after rebels broke into her home and threatened her mother at gunpoint.

Leaving a successful car sales business behind, Ngemba’s family settled in Kampala, Uganda. The main reason was that my brother, who is blind in one eye, needed special medical care not available in small towns or refugee camps.

Ngemba said the move took a toll on her education. She struggled at school in her new environment.

“I was late,” Ngemba said. “Even when I got home, I read an extra book to catch up.”

Eventually, the family was resettled in the United States and sent to Cleveland by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service in 2011. By that time, Ngemba was 11 years old.

Now a senior at John Carroll University in Ohio, 23-year-old Ngemba is a staunch advocate for improving educational opportunities for refugee children. For several years, working with the Jesuit Refugee Service, she participated in a forum on how to improve access to education for children in all situations, especially those facing traumatic experiences brought about by violence. I’ve been considering.

Most recently, she spoke at a side event that coincided with the UN’s three-day Transformation Education Summit on September 19th. She described her experience to audiences gathered at her Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice in New York as part of the Unlock the Future of Learning Festival and to attendees watching online.

Education is the foundation upon which children and young people can build their lives, even when faced with the trauma of having to escape danger, Ngemba told the Catholic News Service on Sept. 21.

“When I left my home country, I lost everything. But I still have my knowledge. I feel I can and no one can take it away from me,” she said.

A young Congolese woman became connected with the JRS while attending the Ignatian Solidarity Network’s annual Social Justice Teach-in in Washington. She joined St. Joseph’s Academy in Cleveland as a student and realized the importance of being an advocate for children experiencing traumatic experiences similar to hers.

As a side-event sponsoring organization along with World Vision International and other prominent non-governmental organizations, JRS will use Ngemba’s voice to help people, whether they are in makeshift camps or in a more supportive family setting. We are calling for broader support for refugee children.

Ms Ngemba said her work has also helped raise awareness of the challenges faced by refugee children, especially those facing disabilities like her brother.

“Refugee children with disabilities also need access to education and health services,” she said. “[Officials]are important to make education inclusive for all.”

Most recently, Ngemba advocated for mental health services for refugee children. Her push, reflecting on her own experiences, is rooted in her own struggles with PTSD, which impacted her studies in college. She said she had nightmarish incidents that disturbed her sleep and disturbed her anxiety related to the intrusion of rebels into her family’s home.

“It made me really passionate about protecting the mental health of refugee children,” said Ngemba. If your mental health is not in the right place, you will lose focus. “

Ngemba is looking forward to graduating from college in the spring and wants to join an organization that advocates for refugee children. She wants to help camps, sometimes for years, address the lack of schooling opportunities that remains for children around the world.

“Education is your strength,” she said. “You can run anywhere and no one can take it away from you.”