This 4th of July was extra special because we had a few people celebrating with us who’ve just recently immigrated to the US and were participating the Nation’s independence for the 1st time. Our sister-in-law, Chrizelle, came to the US on a spouse visa and has only been here for a few months. She and my brother, Peter, enjoyed floating the river with the Kellys, eating great food, and watching the firework show.
Our second guests were a family of refugees from Iraq that were relocated to Salt Lake City just over a month ago. They truly enjoyed celebrating with us the independence of what will soon be their very own country. We showed them all we could about 4th of July culture including potato salad, ice-cold root beer, fireworks, S’mores were a big hit, and old fashion conversing by the fire. It was a great day made extra special by our recently arrived guests.
I just hope the the United States of America will be as good to them as it has been to Kate and I.
For the past two weeks I have been putting on little graduation parties at the different elementary schools where I organize English classes for the parents. This is the project I have been working on as an Americorps volunteer for the English Skills Learning Center, a private non-profit in Salt Lake. The idea is to integrate the parents into the school system by delivering English classes to them where their children attend school & forming partnerships with the school administrators etc.
These parents are so impressive to me. Whether you’ve been in the US for a few months or many years, it’s difficult to learn English. Couple this with the fact that many of our parents have little or no education in their home country (some are not literate in their own language) & their progress is amazing. These parents are making the effort to learn English so that they can help their children succeed and so that they can improve their lives.
They meet with a volunteer tutor, at their children’s school, twice a week. The classes are small & tailored to the specific needs of the parents. They have lessons on basic communication & what we call “survival English,” things like how to make a doctor’s appointment or how to tell if a letter that comes in the mail is important v. junk mail. The students develop a strong bond with the volunteer teacher & are so grateful for the help they receive.
I have had the opportunity of teaching & filling in for many of the classes & have come to love these hard working, sincere parents. Many of the parents are refugees, the others are immigrants (many of whom I consider to be economic refugees). One man told me when I asked him about his childhood that he began working full-time as a 5 year old in Mexico. He said, “it wasn’t that bad. It was traveling alone that I really didn’t like.” He is now a single dad with three children that he reads to as much as he can in English so that they can be successful. I am amazed by thier dedication and effort despite the fact that many of them work multiple jobs or night shifts.
Their stories break my heart, but their courage gives me strength.
So, I left my job at the IRC. The demands on my time, family life, and sanity were too much for the pay I was receiving. Although I will truly miss working with refugees, this Monday was the first in months I’ve enjoyed. Yesterday I had an interview with Friends of Great Salt Lake, an environmental organization trying to preserve the ecosystems around the Great Salt Lake. I think it went well, although I did sweat for the first few minutes of the interview because I was so nervous. They said they would let me know by the end of the week.
Anyway the point of my post is that I am still working for the ESL Center running the refugee computer lab, and yesterday one of our favorite clients came to the lab to learn Microsoft Office. He is so cute that when we shut down the computer lab yesterday, he said goodbye, left the building before us, and then waited across the street for about 10 minutes while we closed up the building so he could wave goodbye again. He was riding his 10 year-old niece’s pink bike. After that Kate decide she was going to adopt him, even though he is 21 years old and still has a family.
- My submission to present at the Utah Conference of Undergraduate Research was accepted and so now I get to present my senior thesis research the 29th of February at UVSC. I am very excited.
- The Rocky Mountain Institute is a great organization started by Amory B. Lovins (I am sure you have never heard of him). Anyway this organization is a giant think tank that focuses on solving environmental problems through advising car manufacturers, businesses, and the government organizations into adopting ultra efficient methods that save them money and the world pollution.
- The passing of the new energy bill by congress that requires car manufacturers to maintain a fleet wide MPG average of 35 MPG (the first increase in national fuel economy in 32 years), make the 100 watt incandescent light bulb illegal, and increases the efficiency of household appliances.
- Perceptive Pixel is an awesome new technology that allows full touch interaction with a computer. Very cool product and as you will see in #5 is already being used in consume products this winter.
- Today Kate and I ate free Red Iguana leftovers from the Youth Link’s lunch-in (a NGO housed in the same building as Kate’s NGO, the ESLCenter.
- Although I dislike Microsoft because they are a monopoly, their new product, Surface, is awesome awesome awesome. It will revolutionize computer use and is finally a product that can even turn Apple’s eye.
- I found my lost cellphone today. By lost, I mean it fell out of my pocket into my boss’s car when I got a ride with her to a meeting on Tuesday and she found it this morning when someone from the office tried to call me. At least I have it back and can now participate in conference calls with my brother and his finance (which did happen today).
- Fab@Home is a 3D printer; that’s right, a 3D printer. So just like a regular printer you plug it into your computer, prepare your document, and then click print. Except this time the Fab@Home is going to print your 3D object out of the hundreds of materials it is able to use. You will be able to print circuit boards, cellphone covers, even batteries and eventually, they say, you will be able to design your very own cellphone and then print the entire product out in your own home. Amazing!
- The Humdinger Windbelt is a new, inexpensive, very customizable wind mill that may make wind energy even more affordable and viable. You better just look at the site for an explanation how it works, I’m not going to do it justice.
- Some MIT students have created an amazing solar system out of regular old car parts that will create electricity, heat water or air, and refrigerate. What this means is that one simple inexpensive easily repaired setup can create and manage all the utility needs of a small dwelling or home, carbon free and off the grid. This article is really great, I recommend it.
- After a week without toiletpaper, Kate and I have finally purchased some.
- In passing my boss said something about a Christmas present of bonus. I’m not keeping my hopes up, but here’s to dreaming.
- NASA’s Chandra x-ray telescope captured the most interesting of celestial phenomenon. Recent data collected by said telescope shows cosmic radiation being shot from a black hole into a neighboring galaxy.
- Kate and I had Ethiopian food with Jesse, my brother, and his finance, Laura. Man I love Ethiopian food…and the African Restaurant and Mini Mart.
- A new giant rat was discovered in Indonesia.
- Most exciting Firefox is testing a new 3.0 release. I want to take my hat off to Firefox to really implementing some great tools that have made internet browsing fun, creative, and easy. You can download the beta version here.
- Wal-Mart, via Sam’s Club, is selling an all electric versions of the Mini Cooper converted by the company, Hybrid Technologies.
- Kate and I were given traditional Karen (a Burmese ethnic group) shirts from three of my refugee clients today. They are awesome and we will post a picture soon.
- I am done with this blog entry and can now go to bed.
Until last week, when I got a job with the International Rescue Committee as a refugee case manager, I had not idea Salt Lake City was a major refugee relocation center. Each year around 400 refugees are relocated to the Salt Lake Valley in Utah to start new lives as future American citizens. Many of the relocated refugees have spent up to 30 years in a refugee camps and so everything about the US is new to them. For example many refugees have never signed a lease before, been to a grocery store, or even been in a car. While the first year or so is a very difficult adjustment for many of the refugees, eventually they settle into American life and, like the rest of us, live out the American dream. As part of my job I am also able to work with many refugees that have been in the US longer than 5 years and most of them own their own houses, have great jobs with benefits, have sent all their children to college and university, and are full fledged US citizens. In fact I am told very few refugees, if any, require welfare assistance after their first year in the US. Every time I meet one of these great Americans I am humbled to think what they have gone through and how hard they have fought to get where they are…and if they can work hard and be successful, then I sure can! My heart goes out to all the refugees in the world and what a great country we live in that allows many of these destitute people to relocate to hope and prosperity.P.S. Sorry we have been slacking, we are having a tough time adjusting to our new lives (and real jobs) in SLC and finding time to do things we love (i.e. the internet).
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