Day #3!

Our second week at the Hispanic Center we only helped out on Wednesday but it was definitely the best time I have had there so far!

Becca, Autumn, and I began by putting together certificates for those graduating from the GED program at the Hispanic Center.

Then, because the three of us working together were so quick and efficient, we were done in a jiffy and were looking for more work to do!  The staff told us to walk around and ask people if they needed help.  Believe it or not, this is actually super intimidating when you don't know anyone there.  So we walked around for a while and asked the GED students if they needed any help but most of them were either testing or didn't want help.  Finally Becca got a response from one of the boys who wanted help with his multiplication flashcards.  So while Becca helped him Autumn and I watched and chimed in every so often to help out!

Then came the best part of my day!  I had noticed two girls who had walked in and were just sitting on the chairs and I also watched as the director of the youth program headed over there to talk to them because they seemed new.  The director then came over to us girls and asked if we would be willing to help the girls out.  He told us that they knew no English and we were supposed to help them read.  You can imagine my thoughts.... How am I supposed to help these girls read an English book if they don't even know anything about the language?

Since there were two girls, we split up and I was able to help a sixteen year old girl by myself.  Not only did she amaze me with her reading skills, but we also had some great talks...After I got used to speaking in Spanish that is :] So to help her with her reading we used a children's book that had both Spanish and English parts.  First we would read the Spanish so she could actually comprehend what she was reading and then we would read through the English portion.  I was surprised to to hear her read so well and pronounce the English words so well.  Pretty much the only word she struggled with was "vegetable" which I guess is a super hard word to say when you think about it!  After we finished reading the book that way, I would flip to random pages and block out all the other sentences and have her read only one but in the opposite language.  I was hoping this translating would help her learn, understand, and comprehend the English words and she did a remarkable job!  When the director came over to see how the girls were doing he was so impressed that he gave us the book Holes to try and read.  She did a great job reading the English, but I don't think she understood most of what she was reading.  I didn't know enough Spanish to help explain it to her and she was tired so we quit reading that after about 4 pages.

Now came the best part of the day, we actually got to talk! She told me that she had been in Michigan for less than a week and had come to the US only about a month ago.  She told me that she had come from Guatemala and was now living at a foster home here in Grand Rapids.  Before coming to Michigan she had lived in Texas for a couple weeks but she said she likes Michigan a lot more :)  I asked her if she knew any English and she said yes so we went over some initial phrases that you would say when meeting someone.  It was fun to have a cute little introductory conversation in English with her and teach her how to respond to simple questions.  It reminded me of working with the teenagers while I was in Mexicali, Mexico and having just silly little conversations.

Time went by so fast that day and  I was sad when it was time for the kids to leave :( Autumn, Becca, and I stayed after to talk with the director for a little bit.  I was absolutely in shock when he told us that the girls that we were just working with had come to the US because they were involved in sex trafficking back in Guatemala and El Salvador.  I couldn't believe it.  This girl was only 16 and already had gone through more than I could even imagine.  It's horrible and it literally makes my heart hurt to think that these horrible atrocities occur every day in our world.  I really hope that I see *Hannah again so I can talk more with her.

Like I said, a GREAT day!