Volunteers meet with immigrants for chat and chow

Many of the students in the English as a Second Language program offered at Faith Lutheran Church in Troy have no idea how birthdays, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day and other holidays and customs are celebrated in the U.S.

In addition to the English language instruction, the students — many of whom also work — can chat with volunteers from Welcoming Michigan to work on their English skills and learn how to navigate different customs and ways of doing things through the Chat and Chow conversation program.

“To sit with them, the immigrants and refugees, for them to connect with locals, it makes such an impact,” said Carmen Borda, an ESL instructor for Lutheran Social Services who immigrated to the U.S. from Romania in 1998. “An American takes time to sit down with them and talks to them. It’s huge.”

Christine Suave, of Welcoming Michigan, said the group was founded in 2012 to connect U.S.-born people with refugees and immigrants. She noted that Michigan is second only to California for resettlement of immigrants and refugees, with the Troy, Sterling Heights and Warren area being one of the largest areas for resettlement in the state.

Suave said that local leaders from faith communities, the Islamic Organization of North America in Warren, the city of Sterling Heights, local school districts and the Chaldean Community Foundation report that the students in the ESL classes wouldn’t otherwise have the opportunity to meet U.S.-born residents. She noted that both foreign-born and U.S.-born people can feel too intimidated to approach one another in the community.

“There are limited opportunities to meet,” she said. “We talk about our cultures. There are usually questions. The conversation starts there.”

The goal for the volunteers is one-on-one or table discussions.

A number of refugees in the program at Faith Lutheran are from Iraq. For one session, a returning serviceman brought a map of Iraq to initiate discussion.

“We also connect over faith,” Suave said. “People get real attached to the volunteers. If somebody misses, they notice.”

Elise Arndt, whose husband is a senior pastor at Faith Lutheran, said the church has been donating space for the ESL students for a number of years. The church also operates a food pantry for those in need, and rooms for U.S. citizenship classes.

“We love it. We have the room — why not?” she said.

Arndt said that there’s a coffee area in the church that attracts a number of foreign-born people each day who come in for fellowship with one another. She started off a celebration at the church June 4, which commemorated another successful year of the program, as ESL instructor Sinan Yono, who immigrated from Iraq, translated.

“We welcome you into our building. We love having you,” she said.

To thank the volunteers for their time, the students prepared Iraqi dolma, biryani, kibbe and kebab; Syrian salad and baklava; Turkish cake; Chinese dumplings and fried rice; and Ukrainian salad.

Suave noted that immigrants and refugees are more likely to succeed and integrate into the community when they mix with U.S. natives and learn about jobs and culture. The ESL students in the program at Faith Lutheran come from Iraq, Syria, China, Iran, Romania and Korea.

Sameer Sulaemin, who lives in Warren, immigrated from Iraq in December 2014. Although he works full time at a supermarket in Detroit’s Mexicantown, he makes time to attend the ESL program four days a week. He said his main goal is to learn English.

“It’s a good experience, learning to speak English,” he said, with some translation help from Yono.   He said he also enjoys communicating with the volunteers.

“I love America,” he said.

Yono worked in the TV industry in Iraq, but said most of his credentials and degrees, except for translating, are not recognized in the U.S.

Kim Liepshutz, of Sterling Heights, helped out in the ESL program as an intern earning her degree in social work.

“The students made me feel so welcome,” she said. “I’ve learned so many different stories. I didn’t know they had snow in Iraq. As American-born, we don’t understand the struggles they have to come here. Some have been in three or four countries before they get here. It’s a long process.”

She said that one immigrant from Iraq came to the U.S. through Russia, Syria and then Turkey.

“They left families and mothers at home,” she said. “One adult mother hadn’t seen her adult daughter in 10 years. She got here this year.”

Welcoming Michigan is a project of the Michigan Immigrant Rights Center and is supported by the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, the Ford Foundation and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. For more information about Welcoming Michigan or to apply to be a volunteer, visit www.welcomingmichigan.org.

http://www.candgnews.com/news/volunteers-meet-immigrants-chat-and-chow-84122