Blog #1 - Pre-service Reflection

1.  What are your hopes for the service-learning project? 
My hopes are that I will be to give the refugee family I am working with a positive experience by the time my project ends, and that I will gain positive memories and experiences from working with them. Since my service mostly involves me tutoring them with their English, I hope to be effective and helpful enough to help make a difference in their English fluency. I hope to learn from them and their cultures, and I learn to further develop my intercultural skills and competency.
 

2.  What are your assumptions about your service-learning site?

Since I am working with the family directly in their home, I do not really have any assumptions about my service-learning site. It may have a warm and “homely” feeling that many homes have, or it may not. It may be crowded with furniture and decorations, or it may be spacious and simplistic. I don’t really know what to expect, so I am not going to make any assumptions. I am keeping my mind open and my assumptions/expectations to a minimum. English fluency varies among refugees. I do not know how well the refugee family members can speak/read/write in English, but I am hoping that they will be able to communicate with us in English to some degree, since otherwise, I would not be able to understand them and talk to them.

3.  What do you already know/or assume about the work they do?

I am working with the refugee family through the World Relief organization. I have learned from the volunteer director that the agency performs many services for immigrants and refugees. The main division I am working with helps refugees escape from discrimination in their home countries and provide homes for them in the US.

  

4.  What do you know/or assume about the population they serve?

The population World Relief mainly serves includes immigrants and refugees. The refugees seek protection and new homes in different countries in order to escape various types of discrimination, punishment, and even death, in their home countries. The refugees come from different countries and a wide variety of backgrounds. Some were doctors or engineers in their countries, some received many years of formal education, and some received little to no formal education. Some come to the US by themselves, and some came with their families. The refugees are not a homogenous group of people; they all have their own pasts and personalities, and they have different new plans for their changed paths in life.

  

5.  What connections/interests/passions do you have for this site or the population it serves?

 I am interested in learning about the refugee family’s unique culture, history, and experiences (if they choose to share them with me), and I am also interested in the process of tutoring English to non-native English learners because I hope to become an ESL/ELL teacher.