The chalkboard reads, Hi, my name is Liz Allen. What’s your name?
Although the students sitting in front of Allen range in age from 22 to 70, only a few are able to read it.
Allen is a teacher with Literacy Volunteers-Mohawk/Hudson, Inc., a nonprofit organization that provides free individualized instruction to English-speaking adults seeking help with basic reading and writing skills (from non-readers up to sixth-grade level) or to speakers of other languages with conversational English. Trained volunteers provide two hours of instruction, once or twice a week, in locations throughout the Capital District.
Allen teaches a class of Burmese adults every Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at the First Unitarian Universalist Church of Albany, 405 Washington Ave. Most of her students have come from the Mae La Refugee Camp, 70 kilometers north of the Thai/Myanmar border town of Mae Sot.
`These people are victims of the civil war there. Some have lived in refugee camps on the border of Thailand for up to 20 years. Yet they still remain unbroken in spirit,` said Allen. `It is very inspiring to work with them.`
One of her students, Law Tha Pwi, spent 15 of his 23 years in the refugee camp. That’s where he met his wife. They came to the Capital District four months ago with their 20-month-old daughter with help from the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI) settlement program. Through a laborious mix of English and Burmese, Law said he is sad because the USCRI relocated his sister to a city in Texas.
`It’s nice when the families end up in the same place,` said Allen, `but it doesn’t always happen that way.`
Seventy-year-old Laza Ru and his wife, Po Hser, 67, act as guides for the younger refugees in Allen’s class. On a recent Saturday, Po is helping a 22-year-old student named Mu Mu with career-related words.
`She wants to learn because this is her new beginning,` said Po. `She wants to learn.`
The children of relocated refugees will get the help they need through public school systems, said Allen, but the adults are left to their own devices. The help they get is two-fold, she said.
`Our goal is to get them to a point where they can improve their employment,` said Allen. `But they also form little support groups for each other while they’re here.`
Allen says many of these refugees are in desperate need of English instruction to help them survive in their new homes in the Capital District. Once the small classes end in the spring, the organization would like to match the students with individual tutors to help them improve their English skills.
There is always a need for tutors, Allen said, and there are plenty of seats left in the tutor training that is to be held at the Bethlehem Public Library on Feb. 19. Tutors are unpaid.Another workshop in Guilderland is for tutors who will be trained to work with people who already speak English but need help with reading and writing. There are about eight spots left in that class, she said.
Allen said the classes are not only for relocated refugees. She said one-in-five people in the Capital District can’t read beyond a fifth-grade level. All are welcome at Literacy Volunteers -Mohawk/Hudson.
For information or to volunteer, call 452-3382, e-mail [email protected] or visit www.lvamohawkhudson.org.
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