Volunteer of the Week - Aften Pankiewicz

Aften started volunteering at San Francisco International High School early last semester. Luckily for us, and for our students, she would not leave. On the days Aften comes in to tutor she is always hunched over a homework problem until 6 pm when Kyle (our after-school coordinator) is begging everyone to go home. 

Aften does a great job connecting with all of our students. She is open and approachable and the type of tutor that can be paired with anyone.

Beyond tutoring, Aften started an SAT prep class in response to student anxiety about the exam. Aften's commitment to the students at SFIHS has been noticed by multiple faculty members who often rave about her. Overall, Aften is a great asset to the SFIHS community and Refugee Transitions is lucky to have her.

Name: Aften
Neighborhood: Lower Haight
Job: Regional Administrative Assistant for Trimac
RT programs/events you’ve participated in: After-chool tutoring at SFIHS

What are your hobbies? Reading, drawing, calligraphy, writing, and English grammar.
If you could have dinner with anyone, past or present, who would that person be? Alice Paul. Her efforts, along with those of other members of the National Women’s Party, made some of the most momentous leaps in women’s rights for our nation.
What is your favorite book? The BFG by Roald Dahl
If you could travel anywhere, where would you go, and what would you do? If I could travel anywhere I would go to Peru and spend a few years teaching English and touring the country.
If you could instantly learn how to do anything, what would that be? I think that one of the best parts of learning is the experience. The small accomplishments, simple mistakes, and utter failures are what make us recognize the worth of that knowledge. When those experiences are taken away, the value of that knowledge diminishes, as well.
Who has been the most influential teacher in your life so far? My most influential teacher has probably been my husband. He constantly shows me the importance of taking each day one step at time and appreciating the beauty along the way.
What has been your favorite/most rewarding moment as a volunteer with RT? My most rewarding moments occur whenever one of my students learns to see past their self-doubt and fears of incompetence and embrace their capability to succeed. It makes me indescribably happy.

Volunteers of the Week - Jane Win-Thu and Jennifer Discar

This week we have a Volunteer of the Week dual feature! Jane and Jennifer are two friends and amazing volunteers at our after-school program at Oakland International High School (OIHS). They've gone above and beyond the program's requirements - not only volunteering their time tutoring during the after-school program, but also offering to organize and chaperone field trips for the OIHS students who attend the program!

Thanks to Jane and Jennifer for your great work - we hope to see you at OIHS once the school year starts up again! Read below for both of their interviews.

Name: Jane Win-Thu

Neighborhood: Berkeley/ Santa Clarita, CA

Job: Library Associate at NRLF

RT programs/events you've participated in: OIHS after-school tutoring and field trips.

What are your hobbies? I like to listen to music, write, and be outdoors (going to the beach, hiking, swimming, walking my dog).

If you could have dinner with anyone, past or present, who would that person be? I would dine with Malcolm X, he's fascinating.

What is your favorite book? Right now, The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles by Haruki Murakami.

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go, and what would you do? I would travel to remote villages in Burma and visit the Thailand-Burma border to document the people's lives and possibly help educate the children and women.

If you could instantly learn how to do anything, what would that be? I would learn how to play the violin or piano like a professional.

Who has been the most influential teacher in your life so far? Susan Chen, my old church youth advisor. No other teacher stands out to me, but she taught me how to be patient, humble, and caring. Plus she's a genius.

What has been your favorite/most rewarding moment as a volunteer with RT? I loved taking the students to the Asian Art Museum and seeing their enthusiasm when they took the initiative in joining an arts and craft table and creating clay "reflections of art". Although I thought it would be my job to engage them in the art and make a boring museum trip fun, they did all the work for me and seeing their enjoyment made me feel very rewarded! I also enjoyed being able to take the extra funding money and portioning it out to buy prizes and gifts for the students. Thinking of what they would find useful and actually having the means to get those things for them, that was a very good feeling.

Name: Jennifer Discar
Neighborhood: Berkeley
Job: Student
RT programs/events you’ve participated in: After-school tutoring; OIHS field trip program

What are your hobbies? Reading, running, skiing, cooking
If you could have dinner with anyone, past or present, who would that person be? Katie Davis of Amazima, who was only 19-years-old when she founded a feeding and sponsorship non-profit for children in Uganda, where she continues to live and mother thirteen adopted girls.
What is your favorite book? Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
If you could travel anywhere, where would you go, and what would you do? I would scuba dive off an island in the Pacific.
If you could instantly learn how to do anything, what would that be? I would instantly learn how to play the piano or violin.
Who has been the most influential teacher in your life so far? One of my high school teachers, Paul Hicok, who challenged me to think for myself and taught me how to dig deeper.
What has been your favorite/most rewarding moment as a volunteer with RT? One of my favorite moments as a RT volunteer was when a student I had been working with for awhile came to me asking for practical preparation (i.e., role playing for potential conversations he might have to have, etc.) for bringing his younger brother to the doctor's office. I felt like I had come to be trusted, and was making a practical and immediate difference in someone's life. Another rewarding moment was when some of the students who went on the Oakland Museum of California field trip told me that that was their very first time in a museum.

Meet Torbertha - Former Refugee Transitions Student and Current Summer Intern!

Introducing Torbertha, a former student in our after-school program, and now our summer intern. Torbertha recently passed her citizenship exam, along with her mother and sister! (Torbertha is pictured below on the left holding a flag in the second row with her family and a Refugee Transitions volunteer.)

Hi everyone! My name is Torbertha Torborn. I was born and raised in West Africa, Liberia. I came to the United States in 2004 with my family because there were wars in my country.

I am currently a 4^th year student at the University of California, Berkeley, majoring in Social Welfare with a concentration in Public Health and an intended major or minor in Anthropology. I am also a current intern at Refugee Transitions and feel fortunate to be in this position because their programs are what equipped me for college and helped my family and me adjust to American culture and society.            

In addition to helping my family adjust to American society, a Refugee Transitions volunteer also assisted my mother in studying for the naturalization test. Very recently, my mom, my older sister, and I passed the test together and we’re now citizens of the United States! During the citizenship ceremony, I was very emotional - both sad and happy at the same time. Sad because my family and I had come a very long way and had experienced many hardships on our journeys. Happy because, despite these hardships, we all have become well-rounded people and are very focused on pursuing the great opportunities and overcoming any challenges in store for us in the United States.       

It is a great opportunity and a privilege to become a U.S. citizen because with this title we can obtain numerous opportunities such as scholarships and internships, and obtain higher job positions. Being a U.S. citizen is also a great opportunity because we can now travel the world and return to the U.S. without dealing with immigration barriers that sometimes delay a non-U.S. citizen from entering the country.

Overall, I am very grateful to be here, and also glad to be an intern at Refugee Transitions.  Refugee Transitions exposed me to a field that I am greatly interested in. As a refugee myself, I would like to work and help other refugees around the world – right now,  either in the nursing filed or the social work filed.                 

- Torbertha Torbon, Refugee Transitions Summer Intern

Volunteer of the Week - Sara Brandt

Sara has been working at SFIHS since November, making her RT's most experienced SFIHS tutor. She loves the students and the students love her: they ask about her when she's not there! Sara is committed to understanding refugee issues and working with refugees in both the US and Denmark (she's currently an exchange student from Denmark at SFSU). She brings a wonderful dynamic to the tutoring room and it is a pleasure having her at SFIHS!

Name: Sara Katrine Brandt
Neighborhood: Mission Neighborhood
RT programs/events you've particiated in: Tutor at San Francisco International High School

What are your hobbies? I love to travel, to experience how many great things and places there are around the world, and especially to learn from people with different cultural backgrounds. Music is also very important to me. I sing in a choir and play the piano.
If you could have dinner with anyone, past or present, who would that person be? If I could choose any person in the world to have dinner with I would choose the young woman who started the uprisings in Egypt from her blog in January. I would ask her what gave her the courage to mobilize people, what her expectations were and what she thinks about the outcome. To me it was democracy at its finest.  
What is your favorite book? I absolutely love Harry Potter. The magic, the characters and the great adventures in the books are nice to read about anytime, anywhere...
If you could travel anywhere, where would you go, and what would you do? If I could travel anywhere I think I would go to Latin America. So many of the kids at SFIHS are from there and I would find it very interesting to get a better impression of the societies they’re from.  
If you could instantly learn how to do anything, what would that be? If I could instantly learn anything I think I would like to learn how to speak Arabic. In Denmark many of the immigrants we have are from the Middle East and I would find it very valuable to be able to talk to them in their own language.    
Who has been the most influential teacher in your life so far? My grandmother has been the most influential teacher in my life. She has always taught me to be respectful and open to different cultures.
What has been your favorite/most rewarding moment as a volunteer with RT? A week ago one of the students at SFIHS gave me two drawings that he had made for me at home. He’s a cool guy who plays soccer and listens to his iPod most of the time. But because I always work with him a lot he wanted to thank me by making two drawings of my name in graffiti letters. To know that he appreciated my help was very valuable to me. But I think that there are many great moments as a tutor at SFIHS. Whenever the kids understand something I’ve taught them or when they open up to me and tell me about their problems or other important things in their lives I feel very rewarded. 

Volunteer of the Week - Anna McCanse

Anna McCanse is not new to volunteer service - she has a background working with low-income youth at Outward Bound in SF and in teaching ESL to adults (both in the Peace Corps in Dominica and for the last two years as a volunteer at the IRC). Last April, Anna joined Refugee Transitions and began tutoring a mother from Khartoum, Sudan. Her student loves working with Anna each week and she made significant learning gains on her most recent test - thanks to the hard work they do together! All-star Anna is currently pursuing a Masters in Human Rights Education at USF and is at work on a travel book about Dominica. We are thrilled to have Anna as part of our team!

Name: Anna McCanse
Neighborhood: Temescal, Oakland
RT programs/events you’ve participated in: SFIHS Tutoring, Adult ESL tutor

What are your hobbies? Reading, rock climbing, and cooking to name a few.
If you could have dinner with anyone, past or present, who would that person be?  Probably Desmond Tutu.  Not only is he a remarkable person but I'm guessing he's a lot of fun to hang out with.
What is your favorite book? Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
If you could travel anywhere, where would you go, and what would you do?  I'd go back to Dominica, where I was a Peace Corps volunteer, and visit my friends, eat lots of good Caribbean food, and hike their new national trail.
If you could instantly learn how to do anything, what would that be? Speak another language fluently!
Who has been the most influential teacher in your life so far?  My high school art teacher.  She showed me how fun being an educator can be.
What has been your favorite/most rewarding moment as a volunteer with RT? I had my RT student and her family over to my house for their first Thanksgiving dinner.  They were as excited as I was to meet my family and try new foods and we had a wonderful day together.