Chris Bargeron current serves at Heartland Alliance in Chicago, where he
teaches English literacy and job readiness to refugees. He shares community
with Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters and two other volunteers at House of
Connections.
As my morning begins every single day, I still haven’t gotten over the
fact that even though all of the refugees I serve come from different
backgrounds and walks of life, they share a common goal and desire: to learn
English to help them live the life they have been dreaming of. It doesn’t matter
where they came from—Iraq, Afghanistan, Burma, Democratic Republic of Congo,
Syria—everybody seems to know how to say “Hello!” or “Good morning teacher!”
There’s also a few sprinkling of “As-salām 'alaykum” (‘hello’ in Arabic) to the
employment specialist, who has a native Arabic tongue.
Each of these human beings has a story that they carry with them as they
go about their daily routine. To the common every folk, they are labeled as
refugees. To some, this label has a negative connotation that makes it hard to
see them for who they really are: one of us living on this Earth. They will try
to live a normal life amidst the turmoil that still resides in their home
country. But we all understand that Heartland Alliance will always be a
welcoming safe haven for those who just want to learn English, a skill that has
been beautifully given to most of the people living in the United States.
It’s a tough road that refugees journey. For most of us in the United
States, deciding to leave our country and to go to someplace that we’re not
familiar with usually means that we’re on vacation. But for thousands of
refugees, it means that they’re trying to survive. And by no means is this for
just a few weeks; it is for a lifetime.
Before coming to Heartland Alliance, I always thought of teaching
English as a Second Language as an unknown territory that I would never be able
to journey into. “How would I ever be able to communicate what I’m trying to
saying to them? What if I don’t teach English perfectly? What if I actually don’t
know what I’m doing?” These are just a few of the questions that crossed my
mind during my discernment process coming into my service year as a Dominican
Volunteer.
I’ve come to realize that teaching English to those of other native
tongues is simply being able to talk to them and being able to communicate my
thoughts. It’s not about constant 7 page lesson plans explaining the process of
how to find the area of different geometric figures, like I thought based on
studying education in college. My lesson plan consists of what am I going to
talk to them about today.
There’s something special about being around my participants on a daily basis. I teach participants at a literacy level of English. This means they speak minimal to no English, and their reading and writing skills are equally limited. Still, having a multiple conversations and laughs throughout an hour class period allows me to see something in them that I’m very familiar with. What I see in them is God.
This vision of God transcends what I see in the literacy level classroom
and also appears in the job readiness class I lead during the week. After
entering the US, a refugee only has a certain amount of time to receive Public
Aid. Our job class helps refugees gain the interview and job skills that they
need in order to obtain a job as quickly as possible, while still being mindful
of their need for English language training. I see something in every one of the
job readiness participants. They have such a desire to be able to get a job
that they “go to work” in job class. They have so much fun with it, too! One
day we were learning what to do when you have an appointment, are sick, or are
going to be late for work, and together we made a script on how to call your
boss. In that class it didn’t even occur to me that each of them once had no
knowledge of the English language. It reminded me that we are all the same on
this Earth; we just have unique, individual characteristics that define who we
are.
Before I came to Heartland, I was studying Math and Special Education in
college. I had already been immersed with Educational history, techniques,
philosophies, and lesson plans that would help me become a teacher. However, in
all of my classes, student teaching days, and observations, I never received a
piece of information so essential and so important about education as I did
from one of my participants this year. He said, “The easy way is not good for
learning.” It’s remarkable that he said such a thing in English; and what a
simple but incredible piece of knowledge! Everyone should follow it. The quote
is now posted in that classroom, along with translations in several different
languages for all of the participants to see. Bright occurrences like these
make me thankful for being blessed with all that I have, especially with the
talents to be able to help those who just want to live life normally, like most
of us do every day.
I do have to say that there are times when participants aren’t all so
lucky when they come here. The same participant who gave me the great quote to
base my educational philosophy on, couldn’t do anything other than go back home
when his father, back in Syria, passed away. This would be okay if he were able
to come back to the US to continue to pursue his new life, but he isn’t allowed
to come back here because already he fled his country from the violence.
These are the struggles that refugees face every day. To put it in
perspective, would you flee your country to go to some unknown country where
you don’t know the language? Would you be willing to leave behind your family
to do so? Sometimes refugees don’t have the choice to bring their family; most
of the time they simply can’t. Quite frankly, refugees break boundaries and
barriers of the “I can’t” mentality. Some people think a motivational speaker
helps make a difference in their lives. Well, I have about 20 motivational
speakers every day. I help them learn English and they help me find new meaning
to life; they show me different ways that I can see the needs of the world.
Heartland participants and even staff regularly say the Islamic term “Insha’Allah,”
which means “God (Allah) willing” or “if God (Allah) wills it.” It is a
beautiful term that gives so much meaning to continuing to find justice for
these participants. I feel that God wills all of the works we at Heartland and
others do to help the alleviate injustices of refugees. Awareness of the
injustices and challenges refugees face shouldn’t stop with me. It should
continue to all communities and neighborhoods, especially through education refugees and how difficult their journey is.
I get up every morning to see these participants because I continue to
be a blessing in their lives and because they bless mine. I am grateful that I
am blessed with their culture, their enthusiasm, and their lives. I hope to
continue to experience this kind of blessing past this year of service and in
my future, “Insha’Allah.”
Insha'Allah written in Arabic caligraphy.
To learn more information about the Heartland Alliance agency, or for
information on contributing to this agency, visit the Heartland Alliance
website at www.heartlandalliance.org.
