Nearly a decade ago, Mary began to feel a tug on her heart to help refugees navigate the changes of a new start in the United States.
“There’s got to be a way for me to start connecting with these people,” she shares.
Soon after, Mary met a Somali woman through a preschool and introduced herself. The two of them bonded over sewing and began to practice sewing in Mary’s home. Around the same time Mary got involved with Arrive Ministries English tutoring program.
A few years later, Mary found an opportunity to tutor in Faribault at a youth tutoring center. She thought to herself:
God is opening a door, I have to walk through it.”
A few doors down from the youth tutoring center is a Djibouti-owned business. The owner approached Mary and shared:
I have women who want to learn English.”
Mary then prepared to host a class in the basement of this business. To teach this English class they used an ABC English tutor curriculum available through Arrive Ministries.
“The curriculum is specifically designed with refugees’ needs in mind. It is structured in a very accessible way for tutors to follow and even includes training for new teachers,” said Melissa, Arrive’ MInistries’ Language Resource Coordinator.
“We were overwhelmed by the response,” said Mary. Seven English speakers reached out to help tutor. The first class filled up and the women began to request more classes.
A Somali woman expressed to the tutors their collective hunger to learn English saying,
We want to talk, we want to speak, we want to have conversation.”
Due to the necessity of having proficiency in English to work, Somali women have shown strong dedication to attending classes. Together, the tutors now host classes on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in the afternoon, with more classes in the works.
The women have been very faithful in attending,” said Mary.
Mary also shared the joys experienced in getting to spend several hours a week with these women.
They hug us, they embrace us, they kiss our cheeks, and they thank us,” she said.
Mary has been overwhelmed by their gratitude and she desires to continue to support them as they learn English.
For refugees to learn and grow proficient in conversational English, they need access to English classes that have plenty of tutors available. The ideal ratio is one tutor for every 3 students.
If you have the desire to build fulfilling cross-cultural relationships and see immigrant adults be empowered as they grow in English, get involved by filling out an interest form, and select “English Tutoring.”
