Poster #145 - “I Can Say Pandemics Affected Many Things,” Congolese Refugees’ Lived Experiences During COVID-19.

• In Event: Poster Session 14

Abstract

In March 2020 across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic saw parents’ workplaces transitioned to homes. Children’s in-person classes shifted to virtual learning. While advanced technology use was introduced in homes, technology use simultaneously increased in others. Inadequately prepared families and teachers transitioned to online learning. Amongst refugee families, introduction of technology and transition to online learning was an additional stressor to existing and perceived challenges. The global pandemic aggravated and highlighted the economic, education and social challenges within vulnerable communities, including refugee families from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (Primdahl et al., 2021; Juma et al., 2020).

In fiscal year 2019, the Pew Research Center (2019) reported that 13,000 of the 30,000 resettled refugees in the US arrived from the Democratic Republic of Congo, making this subgroup of families an important one to study. The goal of this qualitative study was to understand via multiple conversations the effect of the pandemic on this growing community and based on their experiences, learn their coping strategies.
Participants for this study included two mothers and three fathers from the DRC. They had been in the US for less than five years and had children between 4 to 8 years of age who had attended public school for at least three months. The children were required to change to online school. Each family member spoke at least one native language in addition to Congolese Swahili. All interviews (see Table 1) were conducted with an interpreter. The Principal Investigator and the interpreter met each of the families three times. In line with the participants’ preference, the interviews were conducted in person at a time when the U.S. government had partially lifted some of the restrictions. All interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. The qualitative data analysis process involved five main steps: reviewing, coding, categorizing, synthesizing and interpreting the collected data.
Findings revealed four primary themes (see Table 2):
Stressors – no school, no teacher support: The absence of the physical school and teachers brought new stressors to the parents.
Breakdown of social relationships: Due to the pandemic, families were on their own with no connection to crucial social networks.
Increased Parental responsibility: Parents’ roles and responsibility changed necessitating them to be more actively involved in their children’s education content.
Technology in the hands of children: The parents did not find the transition to online school convenient. Some of the parents were averse to online learning, preferring in person classes. The most common technology device in these homes was the television. The parents used their smart phones but did not share these with their children, nor did the children have access to their own smart phones. Therefore, the idea of online classes was foreign in their homes.
Recommendations
This study limited to Congolese refugee families’ lived experiences provided lessons and survival strategies. Families needed alternative schedules and formats to learn. Mentorship and intentional effort to bridge the wide technology knowledge gap is required.

Authors

• Joy Catherine Birabwa, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  Presenting Author

• Linda Hestenes, University of North Carolina at Greensboro