13-year-old Zain Younus from Karachi, Pakistan honed his English skills and gained confidence while attending the IRC’s six-week Refugee Youth Summer Academy in New York City. The academy helps newly arrived refugees, asylees and other immigrants prepare for public school and find a footing in their new country.
It’s still dark outside, but Zain Younus quickly rolls out of bed. He jolts his two older brothers and sister awake, urging them to get ready or they’ll be late. The slender 13 year old brushes his teeth, buttons up a clean, pressed shirt and pulls on a pair of fitted jeans before rushing out the door to catch the Q subway train around the corner from his home in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn.