My Activist Practicum and The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

When working on my Activist Practicum about Refugee Family Services, I was constantly reminded of the Lee family's constant struggles in this country. I think of all the women and children that I have met as a volunteer at RFS and you can sense their fear but at the same time you can see that they want to learn and be considered American. However, they also want to hold on to their culture while learning more about American culture. The many things that we as American citizens take for granted such as our ability to speak English, our ability to easily find a job, etc. are things that these people aren't able to do as soon as they land on American soil. I remember that the Lee family didn't have access to an organization such as RFS, but I wonder if the outcome would have been different for Lia if an organization like RFS was in their community.

The biggest problem that refugees face are their concerns about whether are not the will be accepted into America society. Without fluency in English , they are left to either find low wage, low skill jobs or be employed. Like Foua Lee, many immigrants feel that they are stupid or unskilled because they don't know English. They are not able to communicate their thoughts with English speakers so they feel inadequate and alone. What I am most proud of about RFS, is that it provides free ESL classes and also provided childcare services to mothers who attend the classes. Language barriers are potentially the biggest barriers that hold people back from their full potential or from communicating important messages. The language barrier between the Lee family and their American doctors left a young girl without the ability to lead a normal life.