Michael Shukuru
/CFNA Summer Intern
Though I was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, I spent the first 15 years of my life in the Kyaka 2 Refugee Camp in Uganda, East Africa. When I was just a year and a half old my family fled there to escape the civil war in Congo.
In 2016 we came to the United States, arriving in Salt Lake City in November. It was cold beyond anything we had ever imagined. We had a hard time coping with this and fitting into the community. We didn’t know our neighbors and spoke very little English. My English, though not more than average, was probably the best of those in my family since I had finished Middle School in Uganda, where subjects were taught in English. So I would interpret for my mother including especially, answering phone calls for her. Before we left Uganda my father had left us, so we felt we were very much on our own.
After five months we moved to St. Louis, if only to escape the cold weather, and people here helped us get settled. I became connected with CFNA through Christ Memorial Lutheran Church, and this is where I met Pastor Stanish Stanley, the CFNA Executive Director. Last year he invited me to serve as a Summer Intern, which I am doing again this year, and I am enjoying every minute of it. I assist with computer classes as well as bike safety and repair classes. I also chaperone key events like VBS, as well as swimming and soccer camps. During all of these I interact with the kids and most importantly, help keep them safe.
CFNA matters to me because they have helped me find my place in this community. By helping New Americans with some of their needs I have gotten to know several of them. Some of them have become my friends.
I graduated from Roosevelt High School in 2020 and received an AA degree in biotech from St. Louis Community College in 2023. This fall I will return to obtain certification as a qualified lab technician in life sciences (biology). My dream is to become a pastor someday.
My favorite Bible passage is Jeremiah 1:5 which says, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” This passage calms me down and gives me peace. With everything that is happening in my life and all the obstacles I am facing; God is always with me and will forever be with me because he knew me before I was even born.
By Michael Shukuru
CFNA Summer Intern