During Service #1

        The nervousness did not really kick in until I turned off the car and looked at the door that i was soon going to be entering. I was scared that I was going to get frustrated with myself when I could not get them to understand what I was saying. When I first walked in I noticed the multiple kids and babies in the room. It was very unexpected because Kelly said that our family was a mother, father, son, and daughter. It was not until then end that I found out that on Fridays the family comes to a different families house because they feel more comfortable. Another thing that I noticed was that they were watching Netflix when we got there and that really surprised me that they had such knowledge of new technology already. We started off with learning each others names and we were quizzed many times to try to engrave it into our heads. The first thing I noticed was how certain sounds of letters were difficult for them to pronounce. It is interesting to realize and witness that different languages have an absence of sounds that we say everyday. One of the girls Catherine had been in America for 5 years so it was a big relief that they were already comfortable with that could translate when they could not understand what we were saying. Kelly asked them what they want to learn the while we are there. Every single one of them said with great enthusiasm that they want to learn English. Right after that we jumped right into teaching.
       
        Kelly gave Aj, James, and Amy the game of Uno to play with the older kids. She gave me an ABC book filled with pictures of different objects that start with certain letters. I went through it with a young boy named Salomon. I was very shocked that he was not as shy as i thought he would be with me. He was also very smart. He did not always know the words to describe, but for the ones he did not know he would always act out the animal or know what the objects do. With the boy there was a lot of interactional communication which is when the communication is focused more on the sender which was me and there is delayed feedback from the receiver. I found it very interesting to watch him try to decode in his mind the message I had given to him and also analyzing the pictures on the page. He did always give me feedback which is why it was interactional, but it just took him longer to think of what to do or what to say.
     
        Later on, another young girl came over to me and started reading the book with us also. She knew much more English than Salomon did. Our conversations were more transactional because she would give me very detailed and instantaneous feedback. Whenever I would ask her how to say a word in English she would know it like the back of her hand. More transactional communication was when Catherine would translate for the two siblings who did not quite understand us. I also witnessed face-work while I was working with the young girl. Not only would she say the word I would be pointing to, but she would tell me what happens or how that word relates to the real world. This would be an example of admiration face where she was concerned with me noticing her talents and how accomplished she had become in her English which mostly everyone else was struggling with. One example was when I asked her about a picture of the night and she replied saying that it is when everyone puts their pajamas one and says good night and goes to sleep. I was very impressed with how smart she was at such a young age and even when her parents could not help her in her learning process.
     
        My favorite part of the day was at the end when we played Simon Says. Kelly explained the game and had Catherine relay the message onto Do and Sui, the two siblings. They seemed to have the most trouble with their lefts and their rights. I loved it the most because it was nice to have a fun game with them and we could all laugh together while we were also teaching them English at the same time. I also grew very found of Salomon and I could tell he liked me too when he would run from the kitchen and come attack me and slobber all over my face. It was easier to get him to sit down and teach him when I felt comfortable with him and I knew he was comfortable with me too.

Pre-Service Blog

        My hopes for the service-learning project are equally spread between the benefits of the refugee family and also for myself. I do not mean that in a selfish way. I hope that they will give me the honor of teaching me as much as I hope I can teach them about making a successful life in America. I am not hoping to gain a quantity of knowledge from them, but I am more concerned about the quality. If I do my part right I am looking forward to being able to teach them more in regards to quantity. However, if I am only able to learn one thing from them, then it is my wish that I can fully understand the quality of that lesson and that means more to me than anything else. I believe that if we can both forget about our differences in background we can focus first on coming closer as individuals and working together as one unit. The success for the service-learning project does not depend on one of us nor is one individual's success independent from the other's. Everyone involved is dependent on everyone else. I hope to gain their trust so that we may become closer and possibly even continue to stay in touch with one another even after my 10 hours has passed. Another significant hope that I have is to grow a stronger relationship with my group. In order to overcome some of the difficulties that we may face, we need to be comfortable enough to express how we are feeling so to insure each other that nobody is alone in this project.

       
        I am trying not to make any assumptions so that if the conditions do not match my assumptions, which is very likely, I can just accept that what I am given is how it is. All I can do is make the best out of what is handed to me. Unfortunately, because I am a human being, I do find myself caught up in thinking about what my future has in store for me. I know that they will be living in an apartment building in Moline, Illinois, but have not heard very much else about what they will call their home. I assume that because their are so many refugee families that World Relief has taken under their wing, the conditions are not as ideal as what I am accustomed to. It would be very difficult for this foundation to provide expensive living for these families, so I assume that it will not be as cleanly and big as my home, but I understand their situation and will do my best to overcome any challenges I face with the apartment. I can also assume that the family may not like me at first because they may not see at first how understanding I am of their situation and what they have had to go through. Even so, I will do my best to keep my head up and know that even if they push me away at first, they still need my help. 

       
        All that I know about the refugee population is what Kelly and one of our facilitations has informed me about them. I know that they were forced out of their homes and their lives have been filled with challenges that I could never imagine facing. They had to deal with military men, guns, and violence all around them. I especially cannot imagine having this as part of my childhood. I can only assume that one of their first emotions that they have felt is fear. Being a parent in their situation must be extremely heart breaking as well. Knowing that what you call your home for so many years and then watching that very home being torn away from your children. I assume that these parents feel some what responsible for putting their children in that situation even though it was not their fault at all. Also, having to know that you may never see your homeland again must be so hard for them and I will do my best to learn to understand how they are feeling.

       
        My greatest passion is to help people that need me most. All through high school, I would be that friend that anyone could turn to whether it was for advice or if they just needed someone to listen to them. I have the tendency to take the emotions of the people that I am helping and take them in as my own. I am very good at looking at the world through other peoples eyes as well as connecting to how they feel. A key part of any decisions that I make is how the people around me are going to be affected by me. I have put myself in situations that are not always the best, but I do not regret many of my mistakes because they make me the person I am today. They allow me to go back to a time when I might have felt the same as someone else and decide what I needed most in that time of need and use that to give to others. This has also been a large part of my career choice as well. Although being a physical therapist is mainly for physical needs, I intend to help my patients in any mental and emotional way that I can. This family that I am blessed to be given the chance to help needs me more than anyone else I have ever helped before. I am excited to expand my passion as much as needed in order to help this family as best as I can.