Going into my first visit with the family, I had a mix of emotions. The first time we were scheduled to meet my partner and I could not make it. When that happened, I was really disappointed because I felt it was a bad start. We finally were able to reschedule the meeting and we met at out mentors’ apartment not too far away from campus. We met with the kids first, our mentor thought it would be a god idea to meet with them then meet with the parents when we took the kids home. There were four kids in the apartment but not all of them were the actual children of the family we were partnered up with only one of them. The other three children were either niece/nephew or friend. That first day we met the kids we played Rock Band and they loved playing with cellphones and the Internet. We later took them back to their home and met the parents and the grandmother.

We visit our family every Friday for about two to three hours. During that time we interact we mostly just hang out and interact with the kids and try to connect with the parents. At first, we make sure that the kids have finished their homework, if they have not we help them. If they are finished with homework we can all go to the park or simply play with them at their house. My partner and I learned how to play “rocks”. The kids taught us how to play the game rocks that they would play in Nepal. It was fun even though I was not so good at it. I am really competitive but it in this case I just tried to not be because the kids were pros. My partner and I went home and wanted to practice playing rocks so that next time we wouldn’t be so bad. We also try to interact more with the adults but that is more of a challenge.

The connection between the kids and myself is getting better every time. They are getting used to us and that we are good people with good intentions. We do different activities and learn different things about them each time we go over, which is nice. The kids are young, the ages range from first grade to sixth grade. They are so funny and that is refreshing because it makes things easier. The adults are the mom, dad, and the grandmother. The father is pretty quiet but always greets with a hi and a smile. The mother is a little more talkative and we connected with her on our last couple visits. She taught my mentors and partner how to braid hair in a fishtail braid. We told her than my parent had learned how to braid hair because of her she seemed happy. We talked about our families with her and that was the first time we heard her speak English. She feeds us half the time we go but sometimes I feel ad because it’s late and I do not want to eat or I have plans to go out but we manage. The grandmother doesn’t really talk to us, sometimes she seems kind of worried about my partner and I. Her facial expressions do not look so positive but I understand. I am a stranger and elders could be harder to deal with.

Our mentors are such great help. There are three other girls that go with us to visit the family and it is nice to have them around. They know the family better and it is an easier transition with them in the picture. One of the mentors is from the same place as the family and speaks the language fluently. The parents usually go for her to translate between us. At first, it was a little harder to make the connection with the kids because they were more accustomed to being with them and they were more comfortable with them than us. The connection was not forced immediately like it would have been it we didn’t have the mentors but I feel that was okay. The kids have their own pace to learn about us and they have become more comfortable with us pretty quickly. Having the mentors go with us also took away some of the awkwardness and weirdness that could have been present if we were alone with the family. The mentors give us insight on what is going on with the family so we are aware of what is going on instead of going in blind into the situation. With that insight, we know how to act according to the situation.  The mentors are very nice and very helpful.

In the book, Mary Pipher talks about her hometown in Nebraska. She says that she was only used to seeing people like her and was never exposed to different cultures or situations. I thought this was interesting. I thought how could a person be so unaware of what is going on but the times are different. The more I though about the more I realized how many people are like that, maybe on different levels but the same situation. For example, I attended a high school where the student body was 100% Hispanic. My community and the people I interacted with on a daily basis were for the most part Mexican/Hispanic/ Latino like myself. Not that I wasn’t aware of other cultures but I wasn’t completely exposed to them either; in a certain way I was like Mary Pipher in the story.

The story of her helping the refugees was great. It goes to show how amazing relationships could be with the refugee families. Refugees need more than just help from the person but also the friendship. This is a lesson for people helping out a refugee family because sometimes people forget that these are human beings in which we can be friends with; they just aren’t people that need our assistance. In the book, it also shows how diverse a family can be. Not all members have the same feels and they might all might be going through different phases in like the sisters she was helping.

ALIZEY AHMED

2^ND REFLECTION PAPER

UNIV 109

3/31/2012

Marry Pipher’s book, In The Middle of Everywhere, is focused on the United States, “The nation of immigrants”, focusing on the refugee population of the country. She opens the book with a poem that describes her life in Nebraska, where she grew up.  Also, how over the years it became so diverse, as the number of refugees and other people with different cultural backgrounds settled there.

Pipher, in her book, talks about a Kurdish family she has come to work with in Nebraska, a family of just women. The daughters, their mother, and her narrate their journey from Iraq to Iran to Pakistan and then their arrival to Nebraska. She talks about the challenges the family and other refugees face in the United States. It is the family’s first year and they have yet to experience the major American holidays such as Halloween and the Fourth of July.

The experiences of the refugees that Pipher talks about are common to all refugee families and the things and understanding they require to have relative success and a smooth transition in the United States. She explores the sources and outlets of help the refugees have available to turn to in time of need and the resources that are given to them to have the smoothest possible transition in the new country. She talks about how the information that is given to the refugees to help them is like a form of power and she talks about some of the things that she had taught them to do, such as how to use the revolving doors among many other things the refugees were not familiar with.

The things that Pipher has talked about in the first part of the book I feel are similar to the things my partner and I are experiencing with our family. Our family is from Nepal and have been in Chicago for three months. The family consists of the father and his two children, a teenage daughter and son who live in a two-bedroom apartment. We have visited the family four times now and every time we visit it seems like we have a new surprise awaiting us, it is either that the children have a lot of friends visiting, each time we see new faces or the family has a feats of fruit, juices and ‘chai’ tea awaiting us.

However, the third time we went for the visit, the children were not home and it was only the father who refused to let us in. He seems to be a rather distant character and is harder to communicate and connect with. Nonetheless he is a sweet man and I feel it is going to be rather hard for him to open to us.

Many of the other students who visit their families, know their families story, how they came to the United States, and their life in the refugee camps. However, I don’t feel that our family is open to discussing their past with us, as I feel they still see us just as temporary guest, they never ask us for help and merely treat us as guest. In all our visits we have only once helped the daughter, with her homework and the rest of the time we just end up playing games.

Even though playing the games with the children is fun and entertaining, I don’t feel that we are making much of a difference in their life or helping them like the other students do so with their family. I wish that they would open up to us and tell us their story, as I would really like to know about it.

The children don’t seem to have a mother and the family pictures they have on the wall don’t have a mother figure present in them. I am really curious about whether their mother is still in the refugee camp or what the situation was. However, I refrain from asking them about it, it seems like a sensitive topic that they might not want to discuss with ‘strangers’ and might find it offensive.

On our last visit we played a game with the family. The two children and their friends, two other Nepali boys, and I spoke Hindi. They were very curious about my background as they asked me questions of how it was to live away from home and be in Chicago for school. The boys asked us about college and how they would like to enroll in a college; some of them wanted to attend Loyola but said that it was too expensive.

In most of our visits, we usually only communicate with the children and their friends as the father is usually in the kitchen or just sitting around watching us play games as he doesn’t wish to take part. I feel that our visits are fun and not much of a service learning experience. I don’t feel we have helped the family in any way yet, like Mary Pipher has helped her refugee family use the revolving door among many other things. We also don’t know about the family’s income situation, whether the father or the son work to provide them with money. Therefore in our next visit we are planning to take the family out to the park for an outing, hopefully we make some progress there and hopefully the father will accompany us.

Zach Springer

UNIV 190

4/4/12

Over the past month and a half I have made many new discoveries. I received my Refugee family last month and I have been visiting them at every chance I can get. A typical visit with my fellow classmate Benjamin Gavin consists of a 30 minute taxi or CTA bus ride to our Refugees house, followed by a short walk up two flights of stairs and to the home of our Refugee family. Once inside we always ask politely if they would like us to take our shoes off, which the answer has been the same for every visit, “No, it is okay, thank you”. This proceeds to helping the two younger children with their Geometry homework or talking and sometimes watching football (soccer) games with the two children. When there is a lull in the conversation, the elder brother will usually excuse himself, then proceed to the kitchen to bring Benjamin and myself coffee and cookies. It was only on the last visit that Benjamin and I were able to meet the Mother, Father, and Grandmother. Who all speak very limited english. In two weeks Benjamin and I plan on taking the family to the Lincoln park zoo. When we proposed this idea the family was very excited.

Partnered with the classroom aspect, I feel that my experience in University 190 has stayed remotely the same since my last reflection paper. I know know the exact numbers of how many refugees there are in the world (more than 15 million), what the percentage of refugees are women and children (80%), how many years it usually takes to become a citizen of a new country (18 years), and many more facts about the life of a refugee. Although I now know these facts, I wish to continue into a study of what I can do as a student to have a viable impact on the world wide refugee outreach. Over the course of the semester I was put in charge of an event for the Lost Boys from Sudan. Although this event did not see much publicity or monetary donations, I feel that those who attended were greatly moved and persuaded to help refugees around the world. Furthermore I am currently working on another project for University 190 involving many more people. Also I have made contact with my high school informing them about the Darfur Dream Team in hope that knowledge will spread to those who are younger than I am.

In Mary Pipher’s book In the Middle of Everywhere , she discusses the cultural differences that refugees and what it is like to be a cultural broker for refugees. I feel that I can relate with her in a major way. My refugee experience has been relatively similar. Coming from the mid-west I can assimilate with many of her cultural ideas, and the ways in which she acts as a cultural broker. Mary Pipher also discusses the fact that at her local school the ESL students speak roughly 20 different languages. Again something I am familiar with as there were many different languages that were spoken at my high school as well. Furthermore I am practically fluent in Spanish and I am learning Italian so I can relate with refugees when it comes to new language acquisition.

What I hope to gain from the final month of this class is more knowledge about what I can personally do to change the injustices that refugees face on a daily basis, and also to learn more about the conflicts that made the refugees flee their home country. I believe that I have already put in a substantial amount of dedication to this class and will continue to do so until not only the end of this semester, but even after the semester ends. I hope to continue to do work with refugee families and identify the root causes of problems that they face.

Mary Pipher, in her book The Middle of Everywhere, talks about the rapid changes her town of Nebraska has been facing due to the large amounts of refugee resettlements.  She left Nebraska to travel the world and when she got older she went back and found everything much different. Her community was more diverse and she had to adjust to the new life style of the people there. Since she was considered high middle class with money they assigned her a family she could work with. The family consisted of a single mother her daughters.

The family that she got to work with was from Kurdish. The family travelled from Kurdish to Iraq to Iran to Pakistan and finally to Nebraska in the United States. Mary talks about her encounter with the family and how the daughters were so friendly and how they tended to laugh things off when in reality they were hurting. She talks about her journey with them, how she taught the girls how to drive, helped a girl get enrolled in community college, how she spent the fourth of July and Halloween with them and how amazed the family was.  She teaches them some English while they teach her their native language, they make dinner for her and they form a tight relationship.  She does all this because she feels a genuine connection with them, but also because she knows that they need help with their transition to a new life.

Mary Piper book discuss some issues that I know my refugee family has come across, unfortunately I was not there to help them and experience that wonderful feeling of getting to help out. However, I can connect with the fact that she formed a connection with the family. My family is from Napal and consists of four people: the mom, dad, grandma and their only child. Although they only have one daughter, there house is always full with children let it be there niece, or their friends children.

The first time my partner and I went to visit them we went to our mentors apartment to get to know the kids and form a friendship. I met the daughter, one of her cousins and two of her friends. When I met them it was not as awkward as I thought it would be. The kids were very outgoing and social. The kids attempted to play Rock Band and when they were struggling I would try to teach them, but they were having a hard time so I let them try their best and encourage them that they were doing good. Before, we took the kid’s home our mentor warned us that the family had bed bugs. I was concerned because I did not know if I was going to get a bad reaction if I were to get bitten. We went to take the kids home and that’s when I met the mom dad and grandma. The parents were extremely nice; they smiled at us and made us feel at ease, which in my opinion is hard to do because they are letting in a complete stranger in their home.

The following visits we meet the kids at the park and played with them for a while. We have a good connection with the kids because they, just like us, are open to get to know each other and become friends. The kids are very loving and I appreciate that they accept us. That same day we brought some food- milk, apples, oranges and bananas-for the family and when the mom seen the food she became so happy that my eyes became watery. I got emotional because I take these foods for granted and to see someone to ecstatic just made me want to give them more of my attention and love. The next visit we helped the kids with their homework, which is usually our routine when we go. For the first hour or two we help all five kids with their assignments and then talk or play games. While we are helping the kids with the homework the mom usually brings us tea. I do not like tea but I force myself to drink it so she won’t feel bad. The mom always has food waiting for us and before we leave we eat. The food is spicy and I do not eat spicy food because I get hear burn fast, but I drink lots of water so I can finish the food.

The mom and dad are very friendly and always greet us with a warm smile, however the grandma is the one who has an unpleasant look on her face when we are there.  I feel that she does not like me because she gives me weird looks that imply that. Knowing this, I try to make an effort to get to know her and talk to her. In one visit the grandma and the mom did a fish tail braid on one of my mentors and I was observing them. When I got back to the room I did the fish tail braid-for the very first time- on my roommate and I took pictures. When I went back to visit them I told the mom and grandma what I had done and they were both very happy for me. In this recent visit, my partner and I were talking to the mom about our family and she was talking to use about her family. At that moment, I felt like she trusted us enough to talk about her family and where they got resettled. I felt very happy because I knew that I had gained their trust.

I have a wonderful time meeting with my family that I feel like I am contributing and making a difference, even though we don’t help with major issues like other kids have done. I have a unique connection with every kid and I hope they feel that they have a connection with me too because I try to talk to them and be open. A moment that I felt strengthen my bond with the kids was when they taught us how to play rocks, a game the played while at the camps in Napal. The kids were very excited to show us how to play that, when I got back to my room I practiced so I can be better the next time we play and they can see how interested I am in this game.

I absolutely appreciate and care about my family and I’m happy that we have this connection, but none of this would have been possible if I didn’t have three other mentors. One mentor is from Napal so she translates things for us when we don’t understand each other. They have made things so much easier and more comfortable for us.

So far, Claire and I have met with our refugee family a few times, and everything has gone well. They are from the Congo and spent some time in a camp in Kenya before coming to the United States. We have spent the most time with Sarah, who is twenty-two years old. We also see her brother, Jim most of the time. They live together in an apartment right off the El. Their father lives in walking distance from the apartment, so they visit him frequently. They also have two little brothers who live with their father but come visit them at the apartment on the weekends. Overall, there have not been any big problems with our refugee family; we are lucky that we all get along. They are so grateful for our help, but I feel like we have not done much for them.

The first time we visited was good because we all got to know each other a little bit. Despite only being here for three months, both Sarah and Jim speak English very well. I struggle with understanding thick accents, but they both speak slowly and use simple sentence structures. Therefore, communication has not been a problem yet, and I doubt it will for the remainder of our visits. There are some awkward silences in our conversation, but our mentor, Julia, told us that her she has had some families where the conversations are much more silently awkward. I understand that this is normal, but I would like to eliminate them as much as possible. Jim once said, “Talk!” in a slightly joking/serious tone during a silence, so I assume he does not like them either. I thought that Julia was a little blunt when the first questions she asked them were their ages and if they had jobs or not, but sometimes that is the only way to get the information you need in order to know how to help the family. In my first reflection, I expressed much apprehension in conversation topics, but now I understand that you pick up what is okay to discuss and what is a touchy subject. So far, we have not found any subjects to avoid. However, I want to work on keeping conversation going since a large percentage of the time we spend together is chatting.

I realized the last visit that I need to avoid colloquialisms and slang, or confusing terms in general (Pipher 354). The three of us were talking with Jim about the sea, and I brought up mermaids because Claire liked them when she was younger. However, this brought on a slightly chaotic conversation because he did not know what a mermaid was. Then, after we explained what it was, he thought that they were real creatures. I am not sure if he ever understood what a mermaid is or that it is a fictitious creature. It was not even a relevant comment to make. In general, Claire does a much better job at conveying her thoughts with our refugee family than I do because she uses simpler words and explanations. I will try to do the same in our future visits.

One minor challenge we had during one visit was that Sarah got locked in the bathroom. This happens frequently, and Jim gets her out by jiggling a knife in between the door and the door frame. However, he was not there this particular time so we had to figure out how to do it. It was a stressful situation because Sarah was getting very distressed, and we did not know how to unlock the door. Eventually, Claire got the door unlocked. We went to the superintendent to address the door issue, and I personally thought that she was a little condescending until we explained that the lock was faulty. The superintendent assumed that Sarah was incompetent and did not understand how to lock and unlock the door. It was at this moment that I realized the importance of cultural brokers. Mary Pipher emphasized the importance of cultural brokers from pages 88 to 95. Sarah knew where the superintendent’s office was, so I am not sure if Sarah knew that she could go to the superintendent to get the door fixed. While it seems like such a simple thing, getting locked in the bathroom with no one around to free you would be a terrible experience. I am glad that we got the door fixed, but I hope that if there is a problem in the future (and there most likely will be), Sarah or Jim will go to the superintendent to try to get it solved.

Right now, Sarah has pneumonia, and she has had it for about two weeks. I do not know much about pneumonia, but I can tell that Claire is really worried about her. Claire is pre-med knows a lot about illness, so her worry is valid. Sarah told us that she went to the hospital and that the doctors there gave her medicine and instructed her to sleep a lot. But, she made us a Congolese meal while sick, which no doubt took a long time. I know that there is not much that we can do to help with this, other than remind her to sleep, drink water, and take her medicine religiously. Jim told us that she is not getting any better, so I hope that he is taking care of her. All that we can do is take it one visit at a time and help in any way that we can without stepping over the “help boundary.”

Right now, our biggest goal is to try to get Sarah and Jim jobs. Two visits ago, Julia, Claire, Sarah, and I went to the IC and created a resume for her. We also job hunted a little. For now, we think that the only job she can get is at a fast food restaurant or at a hotel, which she has some experience with. I cannot believe how appreciative she was when we left the IC. It seemed like she had a little bit of hope that things were going to turn around. We should probably explain that the job market is tough right now and that they should not expect to get jobs right away. I hope that that all comes together because I can tell that she is a hard worker. We also plan on helping Jim make a résumé. He is not always at the apartment when we visit, so I hope that we can fit that in with the remainder of our time.

At this point in the semester, visiting our refugee family has become an important part of my week. It is something I look forward to and the time flies during our visits. The Burmese family is composed of a mother, father, and five children including two girls in high school, a boy in fifth grade, one in third grade, and the smallest we call “Little Brother.” Although I know our peer mentor, my partner, and I are helping the family by being their befrienders, I feel a great sense of gratitude for the family and their acts of kindness toward us.
My first visit included only my peer mentor and me so I was introduced separately. I was so anxious not knowing what to expect, but the family was extremely nice. We sat in a circle and said our name and some facts about each of us. I found it interesting that one of the girls knew a Tagalog (Filipino) word that meant “older sister” and referred to me as such, “Ate,” pronounced as ah-teh. They also got my name quickly because they had a friend with the same name, which was a great icebreaker. It was surprising at how welcome I felt after a two-hour visit. I even stayed longer than planned since the mother needed help with the census since a representative was going to call to ask questions. This is an example of Mary Pipher’s explanation of how refugees must deal with many bureaucracies. After this other types of paperwork like answering questions about eyeglass prescription must be answered and can be very tedious. With some miscommunication, we find out that they already answered the questions over the phone even though we spent a while working on the questions. I spent most of my time helping the fifth grade boy with his science homework. Afraid of any language barrier and aware of our age difference I was wary about how I phrased explanations. I wanted to lead him to the right train of thought without giving away the answer easily. It is very helpful that my partner knows Thai and can communicate with the mother. Before this, I do not think our peer mentor and her previous partner were able to communicate with her as well since the children usually act as translators. The children are pretty fluent in English, but sometimes I talk to fast to them and forget to slow down and enunciate my words better.
One challenge being a befriender faces is the concept of time. “For newcomers from slow cultures time is a river that flows through their lives” (Pipher 73). An example of this is one time we were able to come on a weekday, but only my partner and I, and help one of the sisters go to CVS to get a money order to use for payment for driving school. After our journey to the store, we return to their home and help with some homework. We tell them we cannot stay as long as we usually do and give them the time we must go, which seems short not considering the time spent going to the store. The third grade girl calmly comments, “At least we get an hour with you.” She seemed very appreciative of this one hour we spent together. I felt a pang of guilt for having to go, but I could not give all my time because I still had a meeting to go to and homework to do. In this instance I remember about learning about the different concept of time for Americans. I do not want to be a slave to clock but I also want to teach the family about planning out your day effectively.
Another important point I have learned from my experience with refugees is we often take our housing necessities for granted. I appreciate the bed I sleep on and the room I share with only one other person. The desk I have to myself becomes more valuable to me after helping the children with homework. There is only carpet in the living room and no couches. There is a single table in the room that has the computer and other items on it. The kitchen is adjacent to this room and there is a dining table in the corner that does not fully seat the family (I know this because after spending an afternoon with the family, they invite us to eat with them but it is only us three befrienders who sit a the table with room for two kids in the spaces between us). The family never complains about the set up and I do not mind sitting on the floor doing homework or eating snacks. However, I think it would be better if they had a place with more than one bedroom since the kids are growing up and getting bigger, it’s difficult to be comfortable in a small bedroom to sleep. One of the kids said she sleeps very early since her dad gets up early to work. I admire the unity with the family demonstrated in their interaction with each other. They always have Burmese coffee for us and sometimes give us croissant rolls that deliciously go with the warm beverage. The mom or one of the kids gives us our cup with a huge smile on their face and I cannot help but smile as well. On my first visit I was touched that they gifted me a large container of instant mixes of cereal drink similar to the coffee. The new family I have befriended has quickly become my family away from home.
Another challenge is finding a consistent day to visit since it is difficult synchronizing free blocks in three schedules and making sure the family’s needs are met. Our visits seem to be timed well when we do go. They also go to church, which is a great community builder. All three of us have a busy schedule and the high school girls have activities to do like choir or tutoring. The youngest girl is always eager to have us over and expresses so much excitement when we say we are coming over soon. Helping the mother improve her English and be confident when she speaks is one of our personal goals. This is necessary for her to get a job and think about a brighter future, because recently she expressed how it is difficult not having great English after her being here as long as she has. Refugees need the encouragement and guidance to keep going. With our numerous visits, I have begun to get closer and started to know each family member a little better. Recently I talked to the father for the first time after several weeks of visit; it was a big difference from before when he did not acknowledge our presence when we came to visit. I just said thank you and he responded thank you back with a smile as I was leaving this previous Saturday by myself since I stayed to help with a long homework assignment. Times may be tough but this family shows optimism for a better future and needs to continuously be positively reinforced that “Yes, you can do it.”
In the beginning I was so focused on how I could help the refugee family in many aspects of life that I was not able to reflect on how they would change how I view everything. I am more aware of my surroundings and the life of an important group of people in the world’s society. I tell as many people as I can about this incredible opportunity of service and how they can help and spread awareness. Like our guest speakers have expressed, education is one of the most important steps in helping the refugee experience.

When we first met our refugee family, the family was very welcoming. The family gave us snacks and made us Chai tea. The family greatly appreciated our help. The family we are working with has two young kids and one older daughter. The young boy was in first grade and the young girl was in third grade while the eldest daughter was in eighth grade. Both of the young kids knew English pretty well and understood most of their homework. The eldest daughter spoke very little English and has a hard time understanding her homework. She didn’t like receiving help and would deny our help. She was the one who wanted to try her homework first and then ask for help when she really needed it. Because the daughter had a hard time understanding English we would work slowly with her and be patient. In Mary Pipher’s “The Middle Of Everywhere”, she wrote basic tips when working with people for whom English is a new language. She wrote to use short simple sentences and to speak slowly, which we did while we were helping the eldest daughter. Pipher also wrote to pause frequently to make sure they fully understand and to use hand gestures for them to better understand. When we were helping the mom study for her driver’s test, we would use hand gestures to help her memorize the street signs. For example, for a stop sign, we would put our hand up and she would understand that would mean to stop. So when she was studying the signs she would remember each hand gesture and then know what each sign means. During our visits we would help the kids and the mom with their homework and then afterwards we would play games with the kids. We played jacks and shoots and ladders with the kids and they really enjoyed it. Another time the mom showed us a Hindi film, which she tried to explain the song the actors were singing was about their love for each other. I could understand some Hindi so I got an idea of what the song was about. Our last visit we met the sister-in-law’s dad and the mom’s aunt. Both of them were very welcoming and the dad appreciated us for helping the kids with their English and homework. At the end of our visit the dad gave us hugs as well as the mom for helping them. We mention if they wanted to go to the zoo when it gets warmer and they were excited about it so we are trying to find a good day to go to the zoo. Julie might bring her other refugee family as well so both families can connect.
One challenge we are facing is the eldest daughter asked if we could bring easy reading books to help her with her English. We told her we will try to get her some books or worksheets that will help her with her English. Dr. Amick has provided us with some ELL resources on blackboard that might help with her English. Most of the documents he has provided include basic reading paragraphs from the easiest level to the hardest level of reading. He has also provided some ELL lesson plans which include basic words for them to learn like descriptive words, emotions, body parts, names of states, names of presidents, street maps, and CTA routes. There were also lessons on currency, holidays, and counting. We will print these lessons out and see if these will help her with her English.
Another challenge we are facing is time and availability of the family. We started off meeting the family at 2:00 pm on Sunday and we thought that the family agreed on this time but when we when were checking to make sure that we were coming at 2 the next Sunday they said Sunday’s don’t work for them and we should come on Monday at 2 pm. For us Monday’s are really busy because we have classes until 3:30. We made a time arrangement and visited them at 4. For us, weekdays are really busy because we have midterms, projects, papers, and meeting to attend to. Eventually Julie talked with the sister-in-law and found a good time that works for the family and us. We now meet the family on Sunday at 4:00 pm. When we were discussing this with the sister-in-law she was saying that we can drop by anytime during the weekdays but it was a little frustrating because she didn’t fully understand that we have other work to do and that we need an exact time to come there.
These experiences aren’t affecting me in a bad way but it is affecting me in a good way because I know this family wants our help and I know time is a problem for both of us but both of us are making this work. After meeting my refugee family I feel very confident that we will get a lot from this experience. I think we will understand the hardships refugees go through first hand rather than just learning it in class and I think from these hardships we will learn to do something about it. Dr. Amick wants us to get involved and make people aware to the refugee situation and I think by doing fundraisers and events we will get people’s interests and also speaking about our own experiences to family and friends will also gain attention and make people start talking about this issue. I really enjoy helping our refugee family and I am looking forward for our next visit. Everyday is a new experience with our refugee family.

Going into a house where people have gone through terrible experiences can be quite  difficult, you might never feel like you can relate to the person. It has been a little over two months since we started visiting a Bhutanese refugee family and luckily for us, our friendship has greatly expanded. This family has two daughters, one is eighteen and the other is twenty-one, so my partner, Camila Rochin, and I can relate with these girls quite a bit. Every Thursday evening that we go visit the family, we not only help them with their homework, but we spend quite a long time just catching up on weekly events and having personal talks with the girls as well. It is not just a friendly visit to see our refugee family, but it is a few hours to just relax, take time off from our busy lives at Loyola, and bond with my Bhutanese friends. Watching the smiles on their faces and their genuine gratitude for our help, makes it worthwhile to dedicate my time on enriching myself in the Bhutanese culture and revealing the true American culture to this family.

We have a large family to work with, but we mainly focus on the two daughters and sometimes their nephew. They both are currently enrolled in college, where they take math classes and are in ESL (English as a Second Language) classes. Despite their enrollment into ESL classes, their english is excellent for having learned it in America at the ages of about sixteen-eighteen. Though they can speak it well, writing can be tricky and some of their homework question get me confused because proper English and common English don’t always go hand-in-hand. Statistics and algebra are what these girls are enrolled in and it can sometimes get difficult for them to understand many of the concepts. Their diligence for education and determined work ethic are two admirable qualities these girls possess. Every week, before our tasty snack and our long life talks, we must get through I’d say 90% of their homework with no distractions. They have such a motivation to prosper and are extremely focused on having successful lives in America, that I have learned from them to really focus on the prize and focus on taking advantage of all my opportunities at Loyola since many people may not be so lucky as to have these opportunities available for them.

They have an eight year old nephew who we sometimes work with as well. Our main focus with him is to teach him how the American currency system works. We spend hours just going over what quantity the penny, nickel, dime and quarter represent and adding them together. The parents do not know how the currency system works here in America so it is really useful for the nephew to know. This can be a great responsibility because we are showing an eight year old the basics of money, but it is a general life lesson he must learn. As we are counting coins and adding quarters, I’ve noticed how the mother is actively listening and trying to understand as well. We are not their to make the family feel uncomfortable, so by showing the little nephew how to count money, we can indirectly be showing the whole family as well.

I remember going into this experience not knowing what to expect but the worst. I wasn’t sure of what language barrier there would be or if the family was going to be going through culture shock and I wouldn’t be able to help. I was fortunate enough to not only get an outstanding family that has been living here for about two years now, but I wasn’t completely lost on the subject either. Mary Pipher’s novel “The Middle of Everywhere,” has been a great read while going through this refugee experience. In the novel, Pipher describes her work with hundreds of refugees she’s come into contact with in her hometown of Lincoln, Nebraska. Pipher talks about the times she worked with an ESL teacher for young refugee children and their optimistic views on learning everyday despite their horrific past. The way Pipher depicts many of the scenes in the novel reminds me of my own experience with my Bhutanese family. I can always expect a smile from every one as they invite me in their home and as they thank me for my work on my way out. Seeing all the looks on all their faces makes this experience feel not like a volunteering opportunity, but like getting school credit for going to visit some close friends of mine ones a week.

My experience with the refugee family changed my views quite a lot. Before I started meeting them I was looking at the whole picture with more of a political view, in a larger form where I thought I had a place to make a difference or do something in a way that could make a permanent change. However, my interactions with the family proved me that instead, what they needed was close kinship and help with daily life. It is more about helping within the community, reaching out to ones with littlest things but from sincerity that really mattered and were appreciated.

When I first visited my refugee family, I was very surprised by their warm welcome and their willingness to approach me. The children were very social and out going. I almost felt as though it was them that were befriending me. Their positive attitudes made me wonder if they went through any hard times at all, at least for the three children I met that day. For the first two times I visited, everything was very smooth and effortless. They offered us food, drinks and they were very open minded. My role was very directed towards helping them with homework and tutoring them. We would stay there for three hours each day and just laugh, eat, relax and work. However, as I realized that the mother could speak Thai, she started to tell me how hard it was for her to find jobs and she also expressed that she needed help learning English as well. Every conversation we had was somewhat directed to her survival and her hard effort in feeding her family of five children, seven members including the parents. As mentioned multiple times via lecture and speeches by other visitors, the family as well, was going through harsh times of survival and I was very impressed by the children’s attitudes. They were always very well mannered, mature and independent. They all did their part to help out with the family and I thought maybe this is their way of survival and resilience.

One of the challenges that I observed the family was facing would be ability to express. This is more of an issue for the parents, because of they need jobs and the mother especially is having a hard time, to the point where she is considering moving to Thailand. She is attending an academy to improve her English however she feels that it is going slow. I believe that this applies to what Piper mentions in the book about the twelve traits refugees must have in order to succeed in America as a newcomer. I personally believe that the mother might need more ambition and initiative and encouragement to boost up her confidence and belief in herself to continue what she has been doing for the past three years. Instead of choosing to go back as the children have been successfully adapting and learning very fast. To address this problem, my partner and I try our best to help the mother with her English as well. I understand that conversing in Thai maybe easy for her, but I try to use English for any simple sentences and she is very happy to respond in English as well.

The children address to us what they need. For example, one of the older girls needed help to get a check from CVS and we were more than happy to accompany her, and younger children not only invite us to their school events but also visit Loyola to join track and field clinic offered by the athlete’s team. I strongly believe that the children are all off to the very good start and way into success here in America. Despite all the effort and hard time the parents are going through the children have positive mindset, good health, and they love meeting new people. So I try my best to encourage them to do their best in school and help in anyway possible. I am very thankful for the opportunity to meet the family and I honestly feel that I am learning so much more than I should be providing to my family. My whole definition of help and love has changed. I am very grateful for their acceptance of the little things I offer to them and I am very happy to be able to see joy in them.

The refugee experience is an arduous one that does not easily come to an end. Now having experience with getting to know a family of refugees, and having the opportunity to assist them in whatever way possible, my worldview has become more enlarged than I ever thought possible. I have been visiting a family of Iraqi refugees with my partner Zachary “The Bronco” Springer for the past few months. We have bonded with our family and have learned greatly from one another. In particular, we worked with the children of the family of five, consisting of two brothers each around the age of sixteen, a mother, a father, and a grandmother. I see now first hand, just how the kids appreciated my help, making me feel like my work is worthwhile. During my time volunteering, I’ve had the chance to explore a new culture, and exchange ideas with the family. In turn, my exposure to a foreign country has expanded my vision, making me a more well rounded individual as I got to discover more about the family’s refugee journey.
My partner and I have focused mainly on assisting the two kids, Asif and Yasser. They both take similar classes in a Chicago public high school, and both are in ESL (English as a Second Language) classes. Despite the fact that both kids are in ESL, their English is excellent. Granted, there are a few vocabulary words and semantics questions they sometimes ask us about, but they still excel in English. In terms of academia overall, they both seem to do pretty well in school, even though they often ask us for geometry help. They both enjoy soccer very much, however, they are unfortunately Barcelona fans. As a Real Madrid fan, we often exchange playful banter with each other, making fun of each other’s respected teams. We have only briefly met the parents and grandmother, since they always seem to be out. Although we have bonded with the family, there are still aspects of their refugee experience that remains a mystery.
Their journey began in Iraq, where the youngest son, Yasser, was born with a life threatening disease. As to what this disease is, we have yet to find out. Since Iraq has been war stricken, they were forced to move to Egypt, where they were able to have access to the hospitals needed to keep Yasser in good health. They remained in Egypt comfortably for five years, where they went to school and enjoyed the culture and beauty of Egypt. Unfortunately, they fell victim to the Arab Spring while in Egypt, which displaced them and they found their way to Chicago. It was Asif who told me this, and while he was telling me this, his eyes started to tear up, and it reminded me of just how traumatic the refugee experience must be. I didn’t want to ask him any future questions about his journey to America just yet, since it was clear to see that this is a very painful subject for him and his brother to talk about. It seems that it will take more family visits before Asif and Yasser are able to tell us more about their story. Recently, they told us how their dad has a back injury, and that makes it very hard for him to work. Clearly times are tough for the family, since the father seems to have a job, but he is slightly disabled. Not only that, but he was rejected in his attempt to receive disability benefits. The family’s circumstances remind me just how human refugees are.
The bond between my refugee family and myself is one that will hopefully be last a lifetime. It is very difficult for someone to open up about such a traumatic experience that would leave an entire family displaced. The fact that the two children even told us slightly about their journey to America makes me feel like we are gaining the trust, and I want no reason for them to distrust me. My partner and I do what we can to assist the family, however, they seem to have no problems adjusting into American society. The only thing that may be a concern is the English skills of the mother and father, although I am told the mother speaks English very well, but she is just to shy to speak it. The boys both seem to have promising futures, and both seem to want to get into to medicine, where they can go back to Iraq and assist in their home country. Their journey is one that shows that sheer determination and will power, along with the human spirit, can aid a human being in prevailing over any arduous task that they may face, and they do so with a smile in the end.

Karina Bucio
Univ 190
April 4th, 2012
Reflection Paper 2

For the past couple weeks, Alizey, Kesha and I have been visiting our refugee family. Although we have only visited a couple times, I have already learned so much about refugee life. For instance, the main obstacle we faced with our family is communication. It was awfully difficult to both understand and convey our thoughts to them. Especially for me, there was times where I was just sitting there clue less of what was happening. We did manage to communicate with them, The two children spoke a bit of Nepali, and luckily Alizey did too. Additionally, Kesha had a friend who successfully translated for us and informed them why we were there.
The first couple times was really awkward. Like I mentioned, we could not really communicate with the family. They welcomed us in, we sat on the couches and just stared at each other for about ten minutes. Finally the seemed to go about their business and there was times when all three of us were sitting alone. This persisted for the next couple visits. Two visits ago, Kesha and I went, to our surprise only the father was there. Like usual, we sat down and attempted to communicate with him, but he would not seem to budge. Finally I mentioned to Kesha that I didn’t feel welcomed at the home.  She felt the same, so we decided to return at a different time. I wasn’t sure what made the father so uncomfortable, for we said about five words to him. I remembered that someone in class mentioned that the father in their family seemed to avoid them, Perhaps because his masculinity was being challenged in the presence of the students. I believed that was what the father of our household felt, for he had interacted the least with us of everyone. So we just let It be and returned the next week.
Last week seemed to be the first time I enjoyed being with them. We arrived and asked if any of the children had homework, to our surprise it was all done. Kesha suggested we play a game with them and so we did. The two children had a couple of their friends over so all eight of us played a game where we said things about ourselves. It was so much fun, we learned a lot about each other such as likes and dislikes. Later the father came home from buying groceries, and they gave each of us a container with fruit and an Arizona. They even offered us Chai Tea. That, I believe was the first moment we bonded. We agreed to take them to the park this Wednesday.
So far my refugee experience has been an odd one. Needless to say, we did manage to create a bond with the kids, and even got the father to laugh a little. The most difficult thing, Kesha, Alizey and I faced was finding a set day to visit them. Each of us have such complex schedules it almost seemed impossible to schedule a visit. We manage to somehow figure it out though and I believe we will be visiting them frequently.

After finally getting some visits in with my refugee family and starting the Mary Pipher book my perspective on the refugee life has changed a little bit. At first I did not visit or meet a refugee personally, I only heard speeches from them. So when I was learning all these facts about the refugee life it didn’t mean that much to me. Now I have made the connection and appreciate the experience more than ever. The family that I have been visiting are from Congo and Mac has already found a job and Blood has finally opened up to me as well as my refugee visiting partners, Reed, Jeronimo, and Trung.

The first visit was very awkward and it was difficult to make connections between each other especially because of the giant language barrier. Even though the brothers could speak a little English, their accents would only make it even more of a challenge. However, it didn’t stop us and we still had a good time. Language is by far the biggest barrier at first because it is essential for communicating. The brothers from Congo happen to speak multiple tribal languages so learning English is more than just learning a new language. It’s like learning a 5^th language and of course we, Americans, don’t speak the same language. But there is gradual improvement and it is visible. The youngest one, Blood, didn’t talk at all at first, maybe because he was shy but it was also obvious the language was limiting him too. However on our last visit, we went downtown and Blood was talking more with us and it was clear that he learned a lot more English. We talked about hobbies and it turns out they are all really into music and sports. They like French rap and soccer. Blood also enjoys playing basketball.

Although their English is improving, there are still sometimes difficult situations when it comes to explaining something but we just say it a little slower and try using different words and it will always work. Also, when they try to something and are having problems, they’ll often discuss the topic together and figure it out so the language barrier is decreasing rapidly. Also, the boys are better at English so they have dealt with the paperwork and other transactions more often which is good for adjusting to this country.

I was born in the U.S. but it was right after my parents came here. My dad came first as a refugee and then my mom immigrated later, both from Poland. Growing up I remember facing a lot of similar difficulties. I learned English through school but I remember my parents learning it and going to community college for English lessons. They would always ask me questions and still often do. I almost always proofread and emails and other business transactions for them to make sure it is well written English. Especially when I’m in the house, my parents always ask about spellings and if a certain sentence makes sense so I was able to relate to the language barrier.

On page 10 in the May Pipher book, it discusses the growth of diversity in communities and when we go to visit the refugee family, you can see it everywhere. Every building is filled with people from around the world and each individual building has a large diversity. Until I was in 8^th grade, my family and I also lived in a very diverse neighborhood so I can connect to this a little bit.

On our way downtown, the last time we visited the refugee family, we talked about what everyone has been up to and we were glad to hear that they have been using the CTA to get to places. The family lives really close to the Jarvis stop so it is very convenient and a good thing for them to have adapted to it so quickly. We thought we would show them a whole new part of Chicago by going downtown but they have already explored some of it by going to the Bean and walking around on their own. I feel like getting to know your new home is always a new challenge and so we were going to address by taking them to the biggest/ most important part of Chicago (downtown) but they took the adventure upon themselves which I believe shows the character of people who will have a successful adjustment.

Mac has found a job so that is another sign that they are doing well. It is nice to see a family who is rather successfully adjusting to their new home and so far it seems like their new American lives won’t be too big of a struggle. I have concluded on personal experience that the refugee experience and the immigration success to the U.S. depends on the character of the people because this family from Congo seems to be doing rather well and I also know other families who continue to face a challenging life. I am glad to be doing the service of visiting refugee families because I can witness the process of building community and the development of American culture and connect to personal experiences.

Every Sunday afternoon, as I eat a small dinner before taking off to my refugee family’s house, I feel a mix of excitement and exhaustion. I am excited to see the family again, hoping the kids will all be there, eating a small dinner knowing the mother will greet us with another tasty snack, and hoping to sneak in another impromptu lesson on Nepali culture from the eldest son. Despite my best efforts, I do feel slightly exhausted as well. It isn’t the family’s fault, after all the stresses of the week, I know there are more to come in the next two hours I spend with them. I take deep breaths on the bus, set a game plan with Cody and Kelly, and we all put on our “game face” as we knock on the door.
It isn’t the family’s fault, they don’t want stress us out at all. It’s all me. I’ve become involved, I want to do so much in so little time. The results vary each visit: sometimes I feel like we have made so much progress and other times I feel mired in language barriers and confusion. Part of it also depends on what the family allows us to do. Usually it takes a little warming-up time before bigger issues are dealt with. For example, during one visit Kelly and I spent almost thirty minutes playing with the littlest girl around the house, when the mother finally brought out important paperwork with tax information that was due ten days ago which ended up taking more than an hour to fill out after multiple calls to the caseworker and state department. Communicating about things such as salary and child support to the mother through the second eldest son was taxing on everyone involved. I could feel the mother’s frustration and embarrassment for needing her son to speak about these things. I also felt sympathetic when I realized this is probably something prevalent in many refugee families. Those who are most proficient in English are usually the children who are in school and therefore, they are probably exposed to many adult situations and stresses early on in order to aid their parents. It is situations such as this that also make me glad I am able to visit my family, to help shirk some of the burden off the children, who might have had to try to translate those tax forms which were tricky even for a fluent English speaker like myself, and the mother, who honestly is trying very hard for her family.
This is the other frustrating encounter I have come across during my time with my family. The mother works long hours at the Tyson Chicken Plant all week, taking as much overtime as she can to help provide for her family as a single mother. This, along with performing all the duties of a mother when she is home, leaves her exhausted. As the child of a single working mother, I see her struggle and feel for her. I want her to be able to further her education in order to advance her career so she might be able to obtain a job that does not require such strenuous work at odd hours. What is frustrating is that I know this is just not possible at the moment. As much as I wish she could try to enroll in ESL classes, I understand what little time she does not spend working is filled with taking care of her children or resting. This is another plight of the refugee, change is not immediate and it is very easy to stay in the vicious cycle of living paycheck to paycheck. Sometimes being able to put food on the table is more important than an education.
Facing this reality has not been easy, however it pushes me to help the children even more. I realized one day, while practicing colors with the littlest girl, her education’s bigger meaning. If by five, she can master not only knowing the colors, but also pronouncing them with a slightly less thick accent than her mother, she has already succeeded in furthering her chances. Giving a high five after the little girl was able to differentiate between pronouncing “blue” and “brown” while also being able to point out everything that were those colors in the house, gave me a great feeling of satisfaction. It seems silly, but I believe these little steps are helping to improve these children’s futures so they can escape the cycle of poverty many refugees live in.
I feel like at this point I should add a disclaimer. Working with my family is not babysitting, it’s not a pain, and it isn’t making me lose faith in humanity. I’ve been rewarded so much already. The smiles I receive as we walk into their home already make it worthwhile. As I eat my dinner each Sunday before I leave, certain thoughts help push away my exhaustion. I remember the son’s ecstatic face when I correctly pronounced the Hindi phrase “āp kaise ho” (How are you?), the mother’s proud smile as she watched her daughter introduce herself in English, the little girls teaching us how to dance to bollywood music, and everyone, even the quietest boy, sharing a laugh at a Disney movie we had brought one night. These moments leave me smiling even now, knowing that while they might not have the same opportunities I have taken for granted, they can still enjoy life and share in these special moments, precious to everyone.

One ofhe most exciting things I’ve gotten to do at Loyola this semester has been working with a refugee family for my UNIV 190 class. I was assigned a big family from the Congo, the Malonga family. This family consists of five brothers and two parents, but we’ve been assigned to focus on the brothers. Along with our peer mentor, Erica and three other students from my class who also serve as cultural ambassadors to the Malonga family, we have tried to help them out with any challenges they have faced while being here in the United States and, more than anything else, stretch out a hand of friendship to them.

Our family is different from some of the other refugee families that people in our class have been assigned for a number of reasons. Amongst these, they have been here since October, which gave them more time to grow accustomed to life in America. Because of this, they have a pretty good understanding of the english language, and conversation flows quite well. This was one of the things that I was worried about prior to beginning my service. I thought that perhaps I would not be able to communicate well enough with my family, which would decrease my ability to help them, and simply create awkward situations.

However, learning languages does not seem to be a problem for the Malonga family. As I have mentioned before, they come from the Republic of Congo, or “Congo-Brazzaville”, as they call it. There, the official language is French. However, most of the family members speak a whopping three different tribal languages on top of that. Along with english, that brings their language total to five, making them some of the very few polyglots that I have ever met. The Malongas are very smart indeed, but much of their knowledge comes from hard work. Through conversations with them, I have learned that one of them is a college-trained graphic designer, one of them is a concert percussionist and another worked in the IT field. Although most of their degrees and skills are of no use to them here, they are eager to go back to school and continue on with their careers.

This diligence for education and amazing work ethic are only some of the things that I admire in them. In my first reflection, which I wrote before I met my family, I said that I hoped to gain as much or more from them as they would from me. Obviously, this has come true. Not only are they eager to share their stories, but i have even begun to pick up some french words from them.

In conversations, I have learned about some of the difficulties they have faced in the United States. Most of these, however, are not things that I can really help them with, which was a realization in and of itself. One of these challenges is of course the language barrier. For example, the youngest member of the family, Blood, is a senior in High School, and he will be taking his ACT tests soon, and told me that he pretty much has the math portion down, but is very worried about the english reading and writing portion of the exam. For the rest of the family, finding better paying jobs is hard with their basic english skills. They are working on their english skills with ESL classes at Roosevelt College.

Another challenge they have to overcome are the fact that their job skills from Congo can’t be used in the United States. One of the older brothers, Mac, showed me some of the graphic design work that he did in Congo. He worked on promotions for the Pope’s visit to Africa, and wants to continue to work in graphic design here, but can’t find jobs here because his skills don’t “translate” to American employers.

It is frustrating to know that they have so many problems that I cannot help them with, but I hope to be around to see them solve them. From what I have learned in class, understood through conferences, and experienced through my visits with the Malongas, I know that being a refugee is a dire situation. However, I am glad to be doing my part in helping.

Dustin Montoya
UNIV 190/Section 003
Professor Amick
2st Reflection Paper
UNIV has continued to be an amazing class for me following my first paper. We were finally assigned refugee families to work with for the rest of the year. Mine is a Karen family from Burma. The father has a job at a café while the mother stays home and watches over two kids and has a baby due in May. One of the kids is enrolled in school and is very smart for his age! In class, we have had visits from prominent Sudanese refugees who have told us their stories about being forced to leave their homelands to start a new life here in the U.S. They also mentioned their views about the future of their county and what they want to do to solve the problems in Sudan. We also finished What is the What and have begun reading Mary Pipher’s The Middle of Everywhere, which describes her experiences with refugees from all parts of the globe and how she helped them settle into Lincoln, Nebraska and American culture. Through working with my refugee family, attending lectures of these inspirational refugees, and reading both the books, I have learned a great deal about the refugee experience.
Working with my refugee family has been amazing! Me, Kristen and Rachel have visited them many times now. Kristen and I tend to help their son with his math homework while Rachel plays with the younger girl, bringing notecards with pictures and English words to help her learn the language. We have also attempted to communicate with the parents, but it is very difficult since neither speaks much English. Their son has been a great help as a translator between us and the parents and has helped break the language barrier. I enjoy playing hangman and dots with him and have tried to increase his knowledge of the city by showing him pictures of Downtown and the prominent sport teams. It’s been a great opportunity to assist the family as much as possible to make their lives here easier. Recently, we helped the parents fill out an application from the Department of Human Services to continue receiving benefits. While doing so, we made a few jokes and shared some laughs, which was a great feeling. Their son looks forward to seeing us now, and has made me very driven to help him as much as I can by assisting with homework and introducing him to activities like soccer and football.
In class, we have had some key guest speakers come in, including two refugees from Sudan. They described how they were forced to leave their homes when they were only six years old. They also mentioned the dangers they faced in their attempts to reach safety, including starvation, dehydration, and attack from government Antonov bombers. They had lived in Kakuma Refugee Camp, and explained how it was a hard life there. In school, they had to write their letters on the ground, homes were made of tarp provided by the UN and any supplies that could be found, and possibility of recruitment into the SPLA was a problem. What surprised me the most was their determination to gain an education here in the U.S. so they could go back to newly independent South Sudan and help prop up the government in Juba. Because they consider themselves the future of the new nation, they feel it is their duty, along with the other educated Lost Boys of Sudan, to return to their homeland and help in the rebuilding process and secure the future of new generations of young Sudanese. I admire their plans to return and improve their new country and I think it is interesting how they put the new nation before their own individual goals. It shows how many parts of the world differ from American mentality, which tends to focus on individualism over utilitarianism.
Lastly, both What is the What and The Middle of Everywhere have become two of my favorite books and have done a great job in describing the difficulties refugees face from the time they leave their homes to the time that they arrive in their new host countries. What is the What ended with Valentino confident about his future plans to leave Atlanta after the robbery to start a new life in a different city. He also said he would continue to tell his story to inform people of the harsh conditions these Lost Boys face so that their existence is brought to light. A book like this is good because if more people become informed through reading it, public opinion could force a policy shift on the government to intervene and stop the genocide of both the Southern Sudanese Dinka and, more recently, the Darfurians. Pipher’s book has also been very interesting to read. I hadn’t known that Nebraska had such a huge and diverse population of refugees living in the state. I thought it was amazing how much help she provided the Iraqi sisters and their mother, including helping them see the natural beauty of the country through a camping trip, helping them learn how to drive and befriending the mother who was suffering from loneliness and missing Islamabad. She also does a great job of providing information on what a cultural broker can do to help refugees assimilate to their new home, including finding good jobs, housing that is not too expensive, and affordable physical and mental healthcare.
UNIV has continued to open my eyes to the lives of these refugees and the hardships they face and how we can help to improve their lives once they arrive here. Just by helping my own refugee family, I feel I have learned a lot about what it means to be a stranger in a new environment, having to adapt as quickly as possible in order to survive. I have gained huge amounts of admiration for Lost Boys who want to return to South Sudan with the knowledge they receive here and turn their country around so they can create a suitable home for future generations. Both the books have given me personal reflections about the life of a refugee and how we can help them to better adapt to a new home. I look forward to receiving continued information about refugees around the world and helping my own family become as successful and independent as I can.