Volunteer of the Week - Nadia Shihab

Nadia Shihab began tutoring with RT in June of 2010. After a newly-arrived refugee family from Iraq came to our office in search of language support, we knew that Nadia would be the perfect match. Nadia tutors Aya and Mays, the teenage daughters, and supports the entire family to become adjusted to life in the U.S. 

Before moving back to the Bay Area for graduate school, Nadia was a Fulbright fellow in Turkey and worked at the AjA project in San Diego, an organization that supports refugee youth to tell their stories through images. Nadia is a filmmaker and an urban planner here in SF. She is currently working on a film project that explores the changing identity of her mother's hometown of Kirkuk, in Northern Iraq.

Nadia has become a beloved surrogate member of her tutees' family. When Lauren recently matched Nadia's students' mother at their home in Daly City, they all said, "Nadia! Very good tutor! We love Nadia! She's like our family. And she's so small! That's why we feed her Iraqi food!"

Name: Nadia Shihab
Neighborhood: I live near the Panhandle in San Francisco, but work with a wonderful family in Daly City.
Job: Affordable Housing Preservation Specialist
RT programs/events you’ve participated in: Home-based tutoring, RT training and orientation.

And now for some fun questions...

What are your hobbies?

Experimental music improvisation with my violin and delay pedal, documentary filmmaking.

If you could have dinner with anyone, past or present, who would that person be?

My grandmother. Her food was amazing.

What is your favorite book?

Hmm, my favorite poem at the moment is "Crusoe in England" by Elizabeth Bishop.  I also just finished Last of the Angels, by Iraqi-German author Fadhil Al-Azzawi and really enjoyed it.

If you could travel anywhere, where would you go, and what would you do?

I'd probably travel to 1950's Baghdad to be with my mother's family before they scattered all over the globe.

If you could instantly learn how to do anything, what would that be?

If I could instantly gain fluency in Arabic and Spanish, that would be pretty amazing. That, and learning to play the trumpet.

Who has been the most influential teacher in your life so far?

My mother.

What has been your favorite/most rewarding moment as a volunteer with RT?

Picking fresh blackberries at the top of San Bruno Mountain with the Iraqi family that I volunteer with.