My Year In Summary

This is just a short, final blog to wrap up my year.  Thank you so much to everyone who supported me in this endeavor.  It was such a rewarding experience that I was blessed enough to have.  I look forward to telling stories and sharing photos with everyone.  Much love.

I’ve smelled body odor, feet, perfume, fresh tortillas, cheap cologne, dirty dogs, rain, smoke, burning rubber, burning pancakes, burning smores, chlorine, trash, sardines, lauren’s chacos, diapers, babies, fall mornings in the woods, melinda’s perfume, bug spray, dirt, fingernail polish, and gasoline.

I’ve eaten lots and lots of tortillas, nopalitos (cactus), barbacoa, pozole, naan, mango juice, pineapple juice, taquitos, mole, cheese, guava paste, serranos, jalepenos, poblanos, tomatillos, eritrean, afghan, iranian, congolese and indian food, lentils, sweet bread, mate, mexican hot chocolate, mexican candies, chalupas, shiner, dos equis, and margaritas.

I’ve felt  joy, compassion, frustration, anger, uncertainty, repulsion, sadness, enrichment, humility, embarrassment, confidence, annoyance, indecisiveness, decisiveness, exhaustion, confusion, motivation, pride, cynicism, and most importantly, love.

I’ve seen ice cream trucks, stray dogs, murals, bright houses, gardens, homeless people, parents yelling at children, mothers breastfeeding, hail, wildflowers, dead animals, sunrises (just one really), decayed teeth, court documents, and injustice.

I will always remember children falling asleep in my arms, the joy of my clients learning english, people getting jobs for the first time, learning words in swahili, arabic, farsi, burmese, nepali, and espanol, how much you can communicate without words, screaming children receiving shots, the love and frustration community life brings, how much i grew, laughing so hard i cried, the unconditional love i was given, god’s strength and support, being called mi’ija, aden’s smile, my co-workers, church, and the relationships i formed with kaley and lauren.

Makeup Giveaway/Party

A bunch of women donated makeup samples or items they had recieved but didn’t use to the Refugee Program.  We got a group of our female clients together and let them try on different products and take home as much as they wanted.  Makeup is something they really enjoy wearing but don’t have the money to purchase it.  They really loved this and we’re hoping to do it again in late summer.  One of my co-workers took these pictures.

It’s the Final Countdown…

The past three months of my job have been the most rewarding by far.  Having my own clients has been great and I finally feel that I am helping these people.  It has added new challenges, but is totally worth it.  One of my clients, Tigste, just got a job working as a housekeeper at a hotel.  We have been working on getting her employed for several months and are both really excited.  She has a one year old daughter named Aden who is one of the most precious children I have ever seen.  She just started walking about two months ago and is very adventurous.  She has these big brown eyes that she looks up at you with and your heart just melts.  She has fallen asleep twice in my arms and it is such a calming feeling.  Another client, Christina, has been going to all her ESL and job skill classes and is eager to learn enough English so she can begin school.  She lives with her grandmother who I don’t think has learned one word of English yet.  Every time she sees me she gives me a big smile and takes her hands in mine and says things to me in Swahili or French.  I just laugh and talk to her in English.  It’s amazing how much you can communicate without words.  Or the comprehension of words at least.

Lauren and I have been talking a lot lately about our faith communities and what we need spiritually.  I feel that I am yearning for a stronger relationship with God but don’t quite know how to get there.  A few months ago I started praying every morning on my way to work for things I was thankful for and things I needed help with.  That has been a good way for me to start off my day, but it definitely doesn’t sustain me for the whole day.  I realize how important it is to have people in your life that share these same desires and needs and to support one another.  I know my faith was something I often put on the back burner in college and it has been really rewarding to have it more a part of my life this year.  It will continue to be a higher priority for me once my year is done.

My most recent endeavor has been the great job search.  Let me just say that if you have a job you should feel very blessed.  It has been frustrating at times, but I have no doubt that God will provide something for me.  I just need to remember to pray a lot about it and let him guide me.  Something which I am not so good about, but am trying to work on.

Those are about all my thoughts for right now.  Hope everyone is doing well.  I am looking forward to being closer to everyone in a few months.  Thanks for keeping up  with my Texas life.  Much love.

Legit

For the past month and a half, I have been helping out Juliana with her new arrivals.  Last week though I was assigned my very own clients.  While this was a somewhat daunting task,  it has been fun thus far and I was more prepared for the job than I thought I would be.

My new clients are from Congo and are 61, 22 and 5.  In preparation for their arrival, I went grocery shopping, collected sheets, towels, blankets and other household goods and set up the apartment for them which made me feel very maternal.  Only the 22 year old, Christine, speaks just a few words of English.  Not really enough for us to communicate with, but we seem to manage okay.  Part of my job now entails applying for their social security cards, enrolling the 5 year old in school, getting more donations for their apartment and getting them enrolled in ESL and job skill classes.

Last week I went to their apartment to check it out and ended up showing them how to use the stove, bathroom cleaners, and the vent above the stove.  Christine couldn’t understand what I was trying to tell her about the vent so she ended up cooking something on the stove and when steam started to rise I turned on the vent so she could see how it worked.  After I was done, she showed me some things she had brought with her.  Two of which were wooden, long handled cooking spoons.  She proceeded to give me the two spoons.  I was so touched and surprised by this gesture.

Other than work, I’ve been able to keep pretty busy lately.  Some friends and I went to a wildflower farm outside Fredericksburg where they had the most gorgeous poppies (in the photos).  After, we walked around the town which was really cute.  This past weekend we went on a beach retreat with the women from our church.  There were 28 of us in a 16 bedroom house.  The weather was horrible on the way down there.  At one point there was a bolt of lightning that hit a power pole and created a bright blue blaze.  The weather cleared up and we were able to have some nice time on the beach.  There were some good faith based discussions that made me think about some things.  One thing I seem to be continually reminded of is having an intentional relationship with God.  If I want and expect the relationship to grow and develop, I need to spend intentional time in it.  I have been thinking about ways to do this and decided that on my way to work every morning I am going to pray and thank God for things I am grateful for.  Hopefully this will get me in the habit of having more intentional and silent time.

Lauren and I planted a vegetable garden in our backyard and  a lot of our plants are getting big.  We planted tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, basil, squash, green beans, okra and onions.  I’ve really enjoyed learning more about gardening.  It’s nice to work outside.  Pictures to come soon of this.

I have started looking and applying for jobs when my year here is finished.  I feel like such a big girl.  Please pray for me in the months to come as I try to discern what to do next.  All of your support and love is so greatly appreciated.  I am reminded a lot of what a great group of people are backing me in this endeavor.  Much love to everyone and take care.

New Season, New Changes

On March 1st, I started working in a new position within the Refugee Department.  I am now working with the new arrivals, primarily ones from Africa.  They have paired me with a caseworker who is originally from Kenya, Juliana.  My new job will entail picking up clients from the airport, getting furniture for their apartments, getting children enrolled in school, taking them to health screenings, applying for social security cards, food stamps and medicaid, enrolling them in ESL classes, and helping them acclimate to the culture here.

My new position is going to allow me to have more client interaction and time out of the office.  Both of these are things I really needed and wanted.  I am familiar with how most of this program works, but I still have a lot to learn.  I know at times this job will be more hectic and stressful, but I am ready for a change and am looking forward to everything this job will bring.

This past week we had a family of ten come in from Eritrea.  I went with Juliana and the family to several different appointments, one of which was the Social Security Office.  This was the day after the family had arrived and they were exhausted!  All of the children fell asleep in the lobby while we were waiting.  One never woke up when we had to leave and her brother had to carry her out to the car.  While I was not able to verbally communicate with them, I enjoyed being around them and watching their reactions.   While we were waiting in the lobby, one of the younger girls was thirsty and  Juliana took her to the water fountain.  She had never seen a water fountain before and thought it was one of the coolest things.  She was so amused by how it worked and that it sprayed water all over her face.  She went and got several of his siblings and showed them how it worked.  They all loved playing with it as well.

In addition to being paired with a caseworker, I was also assigned my own case.  A little daunting to be thrown into, but exciting at the same time.  It is an asylee from Eritrea who has been here 10 months.  Since she is an asylee and has already been here for awhile, there won’t be as much to do with her as with a new refugee arrival.  We got her settled into an apartment last week, and next week we will go and get her signed up for ESL classes, apply for a Texas I.D., and try and get a few more staples for her apartment.  She is 19 and has a daughter that will be one next month.  I am looking forward to getting to know her better and helping her out as much as I can.

Enough about work though.  It is hard to believe that I have been here six months.  It is strange to think that in six more months I will most likely be living somewhere else, with different people, and doing a completely different job.  Sometimes I feel like I am living this weird limbo life where everything in the future is uncertain.  I continue to be challenged by my work, faith, house mates, and life in general.  I have never had a period in my life where I have been stressed so much or pushed so much.  There are times when I get so annoyed by things that I just want to throw my hands up dramatically, say “uhh!”, and walk away.  Luckily, I have not had that response to anything yet.   Through all these tricky times, I have had to rely more on myself, and God, and focus on what I am capable of doing.  At times I am surprised with how much I have grown and matured.  Transitioning out of this year will definitely be interesting when the time comes.

Well.  I just rambled and hope that it makes some sense to everyone.  I wish that everyone could come visit and I could show you around this grand ol’ city.  Hope you all are well.  Much love.

Post Christmas

Since I have been back from Christmas, there have been more responsibilities and challenges at work.  I am spending more time outside the office interacting with the clients.

Every Monday I am helping to teach Job Readiness classes.  There are two classes, one for Burmese and one for Iraqi/Bhutanese.  It’s been an adjustment teaching adults instead of children.  I am slowly figuring out a good style.  The Burmese class is so fun.  For that class we tend to have to break things down into a simpler explanation of different jobs and skills.  This week we talked about the responsibilities of a bus driver, buying a bus ticket, how to request a stop, how to ask for a transfer, etc.  We decided that acting this out would be the best way to help them understand.  The “skit”, if you will, was so funny.  This one Burmese man took his role playing to the extreme.  He was making the noise of the bus doors opening and took really big steps to get on the bus and made a noise when he pulled the cord to request a stop.  Everyone in the class was cracking up.  Every time I am with them I am reminded of how much I love them.

Wednesdays I continue to go to one refugee apartment complex to help the refugees fill out their Food Stamp applications.  This allows me to sit down with them and teach them how to do the applications and answer any questions they have.  The other apartment complexes where they live are about a 10 minute walk from this one, so it’s much more convenient for them to meet me there instead of taking a 45 min. bus ride to Catholic Charities.  This has started to streamline the Food Stamp process.  I’m not sure how much you all know, but Texas ranks last in getting Food Stamps to people.  There has been a lot of publicity here about it the past few weeks.  There was about a two month backlog in the state, but it is slowly starting to get better.  I have been swamped with Food Stamp interviews the past three weeks and am glad that the refugees are getting food money that they have been waiting on for two to three months.

The Spring is turning out to be a very busy time for Kaley, Lauren, and I.  Next weekend we are going to the rodeo, yee-haw!.  I’m really excited about that.  Then we have a Young Adult potluck/get together at our house, gala for House of Neighborly Service, Super Bowl party, family visits, camping trips, beach weekends, and lots more.  I am trying to find somewhere that I can take an art class once a week and am trying to find some other outlets.  I would like to try and find a frisbee team to join once the weather gets a little warmer and am looking forward to being outside more.  I am starting to get cabin fever from being inside so much.

For our Friday community days we are doing a book study on “The Heart of Christianity” with our pastor, Rob.  I would highly recommend this book to believers and non-believers.  The author, Marcus Borg, puts ideas and concepts into such accessible language that has opened my eyes to a new way of seeing the Bible, God, and faith.   I am finding words and explanations to thoughts and beliefs I have had but have never been able to articulate. It has been far too long since I have dug deeper into my faith and I am really enjoying it.

Life in general is really great and I am reminded every week of how extremely blessed I am.  Lauren and Kaley continue to push me and make me discover new things about myself.  The church is amazing as usual.  I am forming stronger friendships with people out here.  The weather is warming up and I thank God for that.  Life is good my friends.

New Arrivals, Grocery Trip, Bhutanese Dancers

Oh, hello

Alright.  So, bear with me as this may be an extremely long post since I have been negligent in my writing lately.  Work has continued to teach and mold me.  Since my last post I have been able to interact with the refugees on a more regular basis.  One thing I have done with them was going to a food distribution put on by the Food Bank.  Almost all of the refugees are on Food Stamps, and the offices all across Texas are about two months behind on processing applications.  This causes a delay in our clients getting food which makes things difficult for us and more importantly them.  Most of them barely make enough money to pay their rent and utilities, and buying food without Food Stamps can be a real stretch, or impossible, for some of them.  About a month or so ago, the Food Bank organized a food giveaway for the refugees.  I was able to go with my boss and take my camera.  It was the first time I had seen so many of our clients at once and all the different nationalities together.  I enjoyed photographing them and talking to some of the ones I knew.  Even though I didn’t contribute in getting them the food, it was still rewarding to see them receive it.  You could see how thankful, and desperate, some were for the food.

I have been able to attend several of the Job Readiness classes that our program offers.  These are some of my favorite times.   These classes cover everything from personal hygiene to job and interview skills to saving money in the grocery store.  The latter of these was taught in one of the local grocery stores close to the refugees apartments.  We took the class one week and broke them up into smaller groups at the store.  There were volunteers and interpreters with each group to take them around the store and teach them things such as comparing prices of different brands, price per pound vs. price per item, how to use the pharmacy, how to check your blood pressure, and what different items were for.  Apparently some of them get paper towels mixed up with toilet paper, and as you can imagine causes problems in the bathroom.

Two weeks ago, one of the caseworkers had a family of ten coming in from Iraq.  I was able to go with him to the airport to pick up the family and take them to their new apartment.  Since I only work with refugees that have been here six months or longer I was excited about getting to see a newly arriving family.  Their plane arrived early and they were waiting with all their luggage by the time we arrived.  I stayed with them in the passenger pickup area while the caseworker went to get the van in the parking lot.  One of the girls knew how to ask me what my name was and we were able to figure out, after some discussion with her sisters, how old she was.  I think I was about as intrigued by them as they were me.  They were very quiet the whole way to their apartment.  Once we arrived, they spread through the three bedroom apartment and investigated every inch of it.  Even though I couldn’t communicate with them, it was good to be able to watch their reactions to their new home and life.

As much as I love being with the clients, there is a constant battle in my heart between aching and rejoicing for them.  There are some days where I have to hold back tears as I hear about struggling families and see the hardship on their faces. Then there are other days where we hear about one of them getting a job.  Those are the days that keep all of us going and make this job worthwhile.

Even though I have been able to do some fun things outside the office with the clients, the majority of my time is spent inside working in a cubicle from 8-5.  This is something that has been really hard for me to get used to.  I’m still not used to it.  I don’t think I have ever been inside for so long in the same place every day.   So far I have already learned that whatever profession I choose will need to be something that will allow me to be in and out of the office.  Probably more out than in.  I do feel like I am learning some good job skills though and am learning how to work in a professional office atmosphere.  This was something I was unfamiliar with since most of my jobs have involved children and swimming lessons or camp.

I still love my church here and am starting to form stronger relationships with the members.   When my Dad, aunt, and grandmother came a few weeks ago, I saw again how friendly and welcoming the congregation is.  As the months have passed I have grown to love the small, intimate environment.  I feel so connected to the church and many of the members who are now like family.  They have taken such great care of us.  I can already tell that it will be extremely difficult to leave them at the end of the year.

If anyone has extra blankets that are in good shape lying around your house and wants a good home for them, you can send them to me!!  The weather is starting to get cold here and the refugees really need blankets.  E-mail me if you feel so inclined: graceguyton@gmail.com.  I hope that everyone is well and had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I am really looking forward to being home for Christmas and hope that I can get to spend time with many of you.

Much love, Grace

Burmese Refugees at the Mall

trying different perfumes

 

ice cream tasting

 

trying some orange chicken

 

putting on lip gloss

the whole gang

Divine Redeemer Presbyterian Church!

This is my home church here in San Anton.  It is a small church made up of about 120 members and is primarily Hispanic.  It is a commuter church with people coming from every side of the city.  There are a lot of families in the church which adds an interesting element.  They warned us when we fist got here that we had to be careful which pew we sat in on Sundays.  Many of the families have “designated” pews and can get a little touchy if someone else sits there.  So far I think we’ve stayed off everyone’s row.

The people from the church have been so great to get to know.  Several couples have taken us out and done little things for us.  One couple took very good care of us when we got here and took us on a tour of the city, out for breakfast and lunch, and made sure that we had everything we needed.  Our pastor, Rob, and his wife, Lodie, are so amazing.  We have been able to hang out with them quite a bit since our arrival.  They are both so full of life and have a such a heart for our community and church.  Lodie is going through chemotherapy for breast cancer, and both of them have the best attitude about it.  They are so positive and determined not to let it interfere with their lives.  I admire them a lot.  

Kaley, Lauren and I are all singing in the choir at church and have almost doubled the size of it.  Rob and Lodie both sing and there are about 3-4 other members.  We manage a pretty strong sound for such few people.  This coming Sunday will be our second time to sing during the service.  It has been really nice to be back in choir.  It was something I was very involved with in high school and have missed the past few years. Ramido, our choir director, is very passionate and entertaining during practices.  He is a great pianist and tends to improvise while we sing.

Once a month there is a bible study for women called Lectio Divina.  We went a few weeks ago for the September meeting and really liked it.  There were about 15 women from the church and almost all of them are related to at least one other person there.  Lectio Divina consists of reading a bible verse or passage several times and each time listening for something different.  There is a break between each reading where we go around and share what we heard, pictured, or what struck us about it.  It’s really interesting to hear all the varied responses and how something can be interpreted in so many ways.  The women take turns having at their houses, and we are already looking forward to next months.   

My life has been more diverse here than at any other time in my life.  I am a United Methodist, volunteering through a Presbyterian program, working at Catholic Charities where most of my clients and co-workers are Muslim and Buddhist.  My neighborhood is 98% Hispanic, and my church isn’t far behind that.  It is the only time in my life where I have been the minority everywhere I go, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.  I am learning so much from my experiences and the people I am surrounded by.  My eyes have been opened to many social justice issues that really intrigue and infuriate me.  This year will be a great time for me to learn and expose myself to things I would have never encountered had I chosen another path.  I am so grateful for all the people here and the love and support I am surrounded by.  Many thanks to everyone that has helped to make this year possible.  Much love.