“Through our partnership with the Chaldean Community Foundation, we found incredible people who wanted to help out and did so by helping provide funding and volunteers for tutoring and coaching,” Triska says.
The program has a strong emphasis on literacy.
“These kids are very good at math and science, but their biggest issue is reading,” says third-year medical student Mustafa Polat, a member of the program’s board.
“A lot of them, especially if they’re refugees or immigrants, they’ve just tried to stay alive and make it, so they didn’t go to school for a few years.”
A “mythbusters” segment of the program, where OUWB volunteers address a health and wellness issue, is also proving popular for the young students. Every week covers a different topic, such as vaccines and flu shots, and students are able to ask questions they may be too afraid to in a doctor’s office.
