ESL Camp

Last weekend Ryan and I went up to Mt. Lemmon to be apart of an ESL camp for refugees in Tucson. There were 120 refugees who attended, about 100 were from Iraq, and then a handful from each of the following countries: Congo, Somalia, and Russia. Some had been in the US for 9 months, others for 1 week. It is absolutely unbelievable and humbling to be in the midst of their company and joy. In order for them to be here and have refugee status, it means that they had to flee their own country of political unrest and seek asylum in another country (many that we met were in Egypt, Syria, Rwanda, etc as their asylum country). It could've been for one year or 15 years that were in their asylum country. While there, they apply for refugee status, if they are granted the status, they are then given funds to fly to the US, with 6 months to pay back their airfare. If they don't receive refugee status, they are forced to move back to their original country. Fleeing their own country involves leaving behind family, friends, their home, their cultural surroundings, their possessions, etc...all because they want to have a better life for themselves and their family. If you want to see a great documentary that gives you a glimpse of this, check out, "God Grew Tired of Us", it's about the Lost Boys of Sudan and the transition that some of them make to the US.

The weekend had a large emphasis on English classes, as well as making friends with other refugees and Americans. I worked and played with the kids while the adults took English classes, and Ryan played music during the large group time. But, during downtime we got to just go around and socialize and get to know the families. A friend we met named Munir brought an Oud with him. An Oud is a traditional Iraqi instrument, similar to a guitar though it is double-strung, has no frets, a large curved body, and a bent neck. For almost two hours, he played and sang traditional Iraqi songs while everyone around danced and sang along...no one seemed shy at all...they just wanted in on the fun of music...such a great lesson to learn.

Here are some photos from the camp:

Ryan playing foosball with a group of guys from Iraq...


Munir playing the Oud while everyone is watching Ashrf dance (he's not in the photo)...


Hanging out during free time...


Just this past weekend Ryan's cousin Nathan got married. Going to weddings as a married couple is so refreshing. I love watching new couples embark on this wonderful journey of a life together. Honestly, I usually cry about something during the wedding...it could be the vows, or the way they look at each other, the flowergirls, etc...this time it was the groom's grandfather playing the piano...cute ol' lil' man. :)

Ryan and I went over to the groom's sister's house earlier in the week to help make cupcakes for the rehearsal dinner...


And then on Saturday, the wedding...