When she was a child, Mireille Kibibi was spirited away from home to escape the civil war in Burundi.
The girl fled to Rwanda with her father and sister, leaving all the family’s belongings and her mother, who was away visiting relatives in a nearby town. She has not seen her mother since.
Kibibi and other relatives later settled in Uganda before coming to to the United States in 2005 as refugees.
Kibibi, now a Berry College accounting graduate, was honored Wednesday during the Atlanta Women's Foundation's 17th annual "Numbers Too Big To Ignore" fundraising luncheon, feting her for overcoming the challenges in her life and for her volunteer work mentoring other young refugees. She participated in Refugee Family Services' Youth Empowered for Success Program.
“I feel like most kids from that area went through the same thing, but kids in America will never experience something like that,” said Kibibi, 23, a member of the Tutsi ethnic group. “I don’t wish anyone to go through that. That’s why I try to give back as I can.”
The Decatur resident volunteers at RFS and said her dream is to “be a powerful woman” who will someday return to Africa to help people who are suffering from malaria and other issues.
“It is incredibly important in the refugee community that they can not only connect with someone who has been through the same things they have, but that they have a role model who shows them all the things that are possible,” said Leann Malone, RFS director of development.
Indeed, the Atlanta Women’s Foundation helps organizations that assist girls and women such as Kibibi succeed. In the five-county metro area — Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Clayton and Gwinnett — 81,000 girls live in poverty, according to the foundation. Additionally in 2009, one in five babies within the five counties was born to a mother still in high school or without a diploma.
The Atlanta Women’s Foundation recently awarded $300,000 to 18 organizations focused on the education, health and wellness of women and girls.
Tuesday’s keynote speaker, Susan L. Taylor, editor emerita of Essence magazine and founder of the National Cares Mentoring Movement, said it was disappointing that the U.S., one of the wealthiest nations in the world, still has problems with homelessness and hunger.
She issued a call for women and men to volunteer and support with organizations helping girls and women.
“We’re here to help the least of us,” she said.
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