Since this my first blog of the semester I should give a quick summation of Marissa (my partner) and mine’s family that we are helping out.
They are a Nepali family who have been in the US for about 6 months. The mother is a sweet woman who works hard to keep her children happy. She recently started a job and works long hours on top taking care of 4 children and dealing with the every day things that go along with having younger children.

There are 2 boys, ages 16 and 14 both of whom are in school, taking esl and seem to have a lot of friends in the neighborhood. The 16 year old does most of the translatiing for his mother and although quiet has the best grasp of english. His brother speaks less, but is getting better at his ESL homework as time goes on, and gradually becoming more talkative.
The girls are 12 and 4, the older girl does not say much but she loves to color and consistantly beats Marissa and I at Mancala. It’s fun to to play with her and it gets her a bit out of her shell, as she appears to count and speak more english when we play games with her.
The youngest is a just a riot. She’s out going, active, and mimics a lot of what Marissa and I say. We’ve tried a few things with her like reading to her and flash cards, but she has a short attention span and has quickly learned to pull one book away and hand me another one when she gets bored.
On a whole they seem to have a lot of support both in the local community and from outreach groups. They are partnered with another girl from an outside organisation who comes during the week and spends time with them when the mother is at work. Also they are members of a local Nepali chruch, we’ve met the pastor and his daughter. He actually helped us out a lot on the frist day, introducing us to the family and giving us some background. Very nice man and he seems to genuinely care about the families in his church.
It has been an interesting experience getting to know to Man Rasile family. The mother is always cook Nepali food for us and the kids always have something interesting to say or ask. Especially the little girl who never ceases to make everyone in the room smile.