Earlier this year I said to Hubby that I felt like I wasn’t doing enough in our community. I wasn’t being giving enough with my time. That I needed to give back more. For the past 5 years or so I’ve been narrating books at the Braille and Talking Book Library. That’s good and I’m going to keep doing it but it’s also a bit cerebral. I wanted to do something that helped people with something more practical. Like food. Or the heating bill.
I looked around my world and thought about what I had to give. What my skills are. What I’m good at. I also talked to my friend Dragon about a volunteer experience she’d had with the Rainbow Coalition as an English as a Second Language (ESL) tutor. She had loved it and had great stories about making friends and really helping people. My friend Sean had done something similar through MSU as a cultural buddy to foreign university students. It wasn’t as visceral as the electric bill but it fit my skill set. English? Yeah, I speak that language. Also, I’m patient and I have a genuine desire to help. It’s very appealing to think I could help someone get acclimated to a new home, especially when they don’t have a strong grasp of the language. I let the idea simmer.
In January I began attending a new church and thought it would be ideal if I could wrap my new volunteer activity into a program they already had running. They rented space and assisted with an English language school but only during the day while I was working. I thought about reaching out to MSU to see if their culture buddy program was still going on when shazamm, I get the church bulletin and learn that we’re going to be partnering with the Refugee Development Center (RDC) and that they need ESL coaches for two hour evening sessions. It was perfect!
I went to my orientation this week and I meet with my volunteer group and the professional ESL instructor who will be working with us next week. The first week of October the students will arrive. They’re refugees from one of the 52 countries that the RDC works with.
During my orientation I learned more about what constitutes a refugee. A refugee is someone who is displaced from their country of origin for fear of persecution based on one of a few very limiting factors established by the UN in the 1950s such as religion or political ideology. Only 1% of refugees make it through the tough UN screening process and are resettled. Right now, only 20 countries in the world accept refugees and the U.S. is by far the largest acceptor. Within the United Stated, Michigan ranks #4 behind California, Texas and New York, In 2016, Michigan accepted about 3,500 refugees, 600 of whom came to my city.
The RDC likes to maintain strict boundaries between ESL buddies and students. We’re not supposed to exchange email or phone numbers, give them rides, or see them outside of class. The RDC says they don’t want us to become overwhelmed by requests we can’t accommodate should a student become confused about the role we play and I get that, but it’s also a little disappointing. The opportunity to develop real friendships is very limited. Still, I like the idea of the program very much and I’m looking forward to my 12-week volunteering opportunity very much. Wish me luck!
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