Graduation from high school, freshman year to senior year, is a journey. For Mulanga Drysile Kazadi, who will graduate from Valley Regional High School (VRHS) in June, it has been a journey of over 6,000 miles, encompassing three countries and four languages.

Mulanga is one of three winners of the George A. Coleman Excellence in Equity Award given by the State Education Resource Center (SERC)  to honor work that advocates for diverse students in terms of culture, language, and ethnicity.

SERC’s Director of Marketing and Public Relations Bob Sembiante explains the organization is one of 17 quasi-public agencies within the state framework that is funded with state grants to work, in its case, toward greater equity in education.

Mulanga received the award in May at SERC’s annual Dismantling Systemic Racism Conference. Mulanga‘s recognition was somewhat unusual since, most often, the award is given to adults, both volunteers and teachers, whose efforts reflect the goals of the organization.

Mulanga was nominated by VRHS along with five teachers who have worked with her: Renee Fragola, Sasha Sanford, Donna Peano, Beth Nischan, and Jennifer Whelan.

She knew that she was one of the finalists, but initially, she was not aware, when she was invited to the awards luncheon, that she would be honored. What’s more, there was a problem: she had an exam at the same time. That test was rescheduled.

“It all worked out,” Mulanga remembers.

Mulanga was born in Kinshasa in what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). From 1971 to 1997, the country was known as Zaire; at one time, it was a colony of Belgium, the Belgian Congo.

The family fled DRC, however, when she was a small child as a result of political instability, and they spent the next four years in a refugee camp in Kenya.

During that time, Mulanga’s schooling was intermittent at best. With the assistance of IRIS (Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services), the family came to this area some six years ago, living first in New Haven, then in Old Lyme, where they were sponsored by the Old Lyme Congregational Church, and finally moving to Centerbrook, where they currently live.

Mulanga has an older sister, now a student at the University of Connecticut, and a younger brother, also a student at Valley Regional.

Mulanga spoke both French, the result of DRC’s long colonization by Belgium, and Lingala, the African language spoken in her area of DRC. She also spoke a bit of Swahili. She did not learn English until she was in fifth grade. At home with her family, she still speaks French and Lingala.

The SERC award Mulanga has just received recognizes, among other things, her work helping another French-speaking student, a Haitian youngster at Deep River Elementary School, adjust to a new language and a new country. She learned about the student from a high school friend whose mother is the teacher of the Deep River class.

According to Valley Regional teacher Renee Fragola, who has worked with Mulanga, the elementary school student “just lights up when she sees her. She calls Mulanga her sister.”

At Valley Regional, Mulanga is in the demanding International Baccalaureate program.

“It’s a lot of work, a lot of papers,” she says.

She has also played volleyball and softball, participated in the spring musical, and been a member of the Best Buddy group, which partners with physically and intellectually challenged classmates.

In addition, she is working two jobs in Old Saybrook, at Liv’s Oyster Bar & Restaurant, bussing tables, and at Sweet Luna’s Frozen Desserts and Bubble Tea, working at the cash register and cleaning.

She is also volunteering at Yale New Haven Hospital, helping patients find their way around the building. To get there, she takes the Connecticut Transit bus to the station in Old Saybrook, the train to New Haven, and then walks to the hospital.

The hospital work is important to her because she is planning to be a nurse.

“I am inspired to do that because going through the refugee camp process, I saw how important nurses were,” she says.

She has gotten a full academic scholarship to Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island, and plans to use the money she earns from her two jobs to pay other college costs.

Mulanga has learned that many people know very little about Africa, but she is always happy to share her own experience.

“People don’t know where DRC is. When I got here, they thought I lived in the jungle, in the forest, but there are lots of beautiful places in Africa.”

She also says that in this country she has encountered racial attitudes she had not seen as a child on another continent.

“Living in Africa, I was not exposed to racism because a lot of people look like me. There was no stigma about being black,” she says. “Here, people see the skin color and they can think I am worthless. I want to show people I am capable. This award raises people’s awareness. It shows kids of color they can accomplish a lot.”

As she looks toward graduation on June 11, Mulanga credits both the school community and the larger local community with supporting her through her high school years. As she faces the future, she feels as many a high school senior has felt before her: “I am so happy and so sad.”