Hi John,  

A new episode of Only in America is live and we went for the gold with this week’s guest! Makorobondo "Dee" Salukombo, a refugee from the Dominican Republic of Congo (DRC) who competed as part of Team USA in the men's marathon at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Summer Olympics and is the founder of Project Kirotshe. What started as a program to find runners for an Olympic team has grown into an initiative emphasizing education in young children in Dee’s home village of Kirotshe as well as vocational training. Dee and his family fled Kirotshe in 2001 and eventually landed in Cleveland, Ohio where he first learned to love running. 

Listen to the episode now on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more. 

Since 1996, civil war and conflict have killed over 6 million people in the DRC. Many young people can’t find work or pay school fees, and are then recruited by rebel groups or militias. That’s partly why Dee started Project Kirotshe and why they emphasize education and job creation. The program has already seen some success from some of its students. Beatrice Kamuchanga, also from the small village of Kirotshe, represented Congo in the 5,000-meter race in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, and because of the program, has also started her own business. We’ll see you at the finish line of the episode – we can’t wait to hear what you think! 

Listen to our conversation with Dee now on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, and more. 

As part of our recent theme exploring sports and community, last week we featured a story of soccer and a refugee community. The Curbside Cup is a soccer tournament for refugee children in Bowling Green. Co-founders Jean Bosco Tuyisenge and Terri Sheldon told us how the tournament came together and the positive domino effect on the community.

Before that, we explored the impact of financial recovery on immigrants and immigrant families. We spoke to Ramiro Cavazos, Issaka Kouraogo, and Lawrence Yoo. Lawrence owns Sushiōki which employs area refugees in the Durham, North Carolina area, Issaka was one of the million essential workers that worked all through the pandemic as a team leader at Whole Foods, and Ramiro is the CEO of the US Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The episode showed how Immigrants are Essential to our recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic – and will inspire you to keep thanking them for their contributions and advocating on their behalf. 

Like what you hear? Have suggestions for episodes, or a question for our production team? Let us know! Email us at digita[email protected].

Hope you’ll tune in, 

Katie Lutz
Digital Production Manager
National Immigration Forum