I require them to write an ethnography on a new culture they are expected to go study during the course. So, 3 of them were determined to visit some refugees for their project and continue aiding them long-term.
After a frustrating day of calling all the refugee charities in the US, I was finally directed to the 2 in Vegas. Unfortunately I'd left emails and voicemails with both already! I called the Catholic Charities again and hit jackpot!! Nicole, a director there picked up and had read my email. We pushed and she agreed to come speak to my class Monday night and take my 3 students and I to visit a family Wednesday night.
So, we met up with Nicole at an 'El Pollo Loco' to fill out some paperwork and give her some more donations that the class had gathered.
Here's Nicole (from the Charity), Mark, Larry and I:
Mark, Larry & Tania are my students:
We piled into our cars and headed over with our 'goodies'. Here's Larry, Mark & I unloading the car:
The Yassar family are refugees from Baghdad, Iraq. They were so excited to see us and practice their English. Larry clicked really well the boys; Omer (15), Ali (17) & Baker. Omer was kidnapped one day by the Iraqi Guard. A black car drove up to him playing on the street and called him by name in the car. They starved him (fed him once a day) and beat him for 6 days, until the American Army found him:
The mother, Ayser connected well with Tania and I. She was a high school PE teacher at a women's school.
Mark was trying to help Yassar figure out his waist size so Larry could order his work clothes, here's one way to do it:
Our big group shot at the end:
I was only planning to stay for a few minutes. Since we've decided to move to Colorado in 5 weeks, I know I can't spend a lot of time developing a relationship with them. But, I really enjoyed it and now we're having a pizza party/movie night Friday night with them! Ayser wants me to bring Alec over so she can meet him. Which means I'm already attached and will spend time with them until we move. I'm excited to start this up in Colorado now!
4 comments:
It's ok to make new friends. You never know what seeds you will plant. And it is good practice fro when you move! That is really cool that you did that, thanks for sharing!
This is lovely. What a fantastic thing for your students to be involved in, and I hope it makes a difference both to this family and to them, and maybe to other families in the future. It's hard not to get involved, I often don't manage it! I agree with the first comment though about making new friends and planting seeds. Knowing you as a friend for a few weeks can make a difference to somebody, especially if that somebody could use a friend. Hope you have some fun getting to know them more.
This is really cool. Thanks so much for sharing! See, it's when you do things like this that make me realize all of the things I could be doing better in my life. Thanks for inspiring me!
Yikes 5 weeks!! I guess we better get cracking on unpacking our house. We were serious about you guys staying with us if you want.
I glad to hear you are making new friends so easily. I always struggle with it.
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