Reaching out to refugees

As The Commons reported in August 2011, Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) is teaming up with Jesuit Commons: Higher Education at the Margins to offer college courses to people living in refugee camps.

That initiative received a big boost recently, as JRS and Jesuit Commons have signed an agreement with the United Nations that will allow them to expand online courses for refugees and other displaced students.

Speaking to the importance of the program, JRS International Director, Peter Balleis, S.J., said: "Forcibly displaced and frequently living on the margins of society, we have seen how education offers refugees the intellectual nourishment to become the leaders of tomorrow. In the midst of conflict and instability, education can be a form of healing to refugees hungry to rebuild their communities."

Click here for the 2011 Commons article, which highlighted SU's own Janet Quillian, director of the international internship program, who created a course on community health for refugee students in Malawi.