Volunteer of the Week - Lesley Gallagher

For close to a year, Lesley Gallagher volunteered with Refugee Transitions to teach a few immigrant students every week at the Broderick St. Adult Residential Facility. Her class was attended by students at different levels, but Lesley rose to the challenge! Her students were always ready, waiting and looking forward to her class each week. She created excellent lesson plans based on her student's needs and provided individualized support in class. Thanks to Lesley for putting so much time and effort into teaching this group! 

Name: Lesley Gallagher

Neighborhood: Anza Vista 

Job: Occupational Therapist

RT programs/events you’ve participated in: Site-based ESL class

What are your hobbies? Reading and swimming.
If you could have dinner with anyone, past or present, who would that person be? Both sets of grandparents and their parents. Never met any of them.
What is your favorite book? Dickens, Mark Doty's poetry and poetry in general.
If you could travel anywhere, where would you go, and what would you do? The Sahara, and travel w/ the Bedouins.
If you could instantly learn how to do anything, what would that be? How to meditate without a distracted mind.
Who has been the most influential teacher in your life so far? In college a teacher who taught positive benefits of stress management and how to do it.
What has been your favorite/most rewarding moment as a volunteer with RT? Walking into a classroom and seeing students all ready with their notebooks, being called "Teacher Lesley", having my portrait done by a student, and meeting wonderful people!

"Join me on the Bridge" on International Women's Day

On International Women's Day, Women for Women International is hosting "Join me on the Bridge", an event/walk that symbolizes solidarity and the need to build bridges of peace and hope for women and children in war-torn countries.

Refugee Transitions started in 1982 as a women’s organization - serving refugees from Southeast Asia who were resettling in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco. While we now serve men and women of all ages, over 75% of our clients are still women and girls. We continue to serve people from all over the world whose displacement is often a result of militant or warring states and inequalities in treatment based on race, religion, nationality social group or political opinion.

We encourage you to attend this event in San Francisco and support the "Join me on the Bridge" campaign!

Event details: 

The group will gather by the Warming Hut on Crissy Field at 11am.  At 11:30am they will proceed to the Golden Gate Bridge.  Participants can walk part or all of the Golden Gate Bridge. Children are welcome.

For more information to to RSVP, please visit joinmeonthebridge.org or contact Deanne Yanak Travis at dyt@georgetown.edu.

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.

Volunteer of the Week - Joyce Hahn

Two of Joyce's students, Mian and ChristalJoyce Hahn is one of our superstar volunteers who works with not one or even two, but four students! Joyce first got involved with our home-based program in San Francisco and has been tutoring Mian (pictured left with her daughter, Christal) since July 2010. She eventually started tutoring Christal as well, who is a stellar student at San Francisco International High School. Most recently, in July of this year, Joyce began working with a married couple originally from Liberia - Robert and Lucy - as part of our new Refugee Citizenship Project. Once a week, she meets Robert and Lucy in Oakland to help them prepare for the U.S. citizenship exam. Thank you Joyce for dedicating so much of your time and energy to your students - you have really gone above and beyond!

Name: Joyce Hahn
Neighborhood: Outer Richmond
Job: Foundation Programs Coordinator
RT programs/events you’ve participated in: Home-based tutoring for adults; Refugee Citizenship Project

What are your hobbies? Reading, hiking, snowboarding, eating food!, cooking, exploring, travelling internationally.
If you could have dinner with anyone, past or present, who would that person be? My mom or Hillary Clinton.
What is your favorite book? Laughable Loves by Milan. Kundera and The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare.
If you could travel anywhere, where would you go, and what would you do? Peru to see Macchu Pichu and hike the trails and Brazil in 2016 for the World Cup, Summer Olympics and Carnaval all in one 6-month period.
If you could instantly learn how to do anything, what would that be? I'd learn how to be an engineer and invent products to help communities use the environment to meet their needs.
Who has been the most influential teacher in your life so far? My high school US history teacher - he made me see that learning was more than just memorization...although memorization still goes a long way!
What has been your favorite/most rewarding moment as a volunteer with RT? I like the little moments so eating dinner with my tutees while practicing vocabulary or simple conversations while we wait for my bus to arrive.

Student Story - Feibi Wu

Here at Refugee Transitions, we never cease to be amazed by the hard work and accomplishments of our students. Feibi Wu is a student in our home-based tutoring program in San Francisco. We were so touched to get this letter from her before she heads off to college at UCLA in the fall! We wish you the best of luck, Feibi, and hope that you do come back as a volunteer to inspire and help others succeed as you have :)

Hi everyone, my name is Feibi Wu. I am one of the students who have been helping in the Refugee Transitions almost two years. During these days, I appreciate all of the care and support from their tutoring and volunteering programs. Through participating in their services, I gained lots of useful experience on my educational achievement and social involvement. 

The Refugee Transitions gives me a hope in the future. Time goes fast; I still cannot forget the first time when I landed on the United States from my country. I was looking forward an equal living environment to fit my disability difficulty, a congenital muscular dystrophy. Soon after I arrived, I underwent many culture shocks such as language, custom and schooling. Due to lack of friends and relatives, my family and I had to learn everything hard by ourselves. Fortunately, we met the Refugee Transitions through another community associations referred. When they recognized my struggles, I was invited to join their English tutoring program regularly at home. Besides that, the Refugee Transitions had lots of resources, such as free concert or museum tickets, workshops and English study materials for me to get involved into the society faster.

In my mind, my English tutor is the role model on behavior and knowledge of mind. Ms .Brown is my English tutor from the Refugee Transitions, and we would love to call her LeeLee. She is a sweet, tall and polite lady. When I first met her, I was amazed her height from my wheelchair. We usually met on Sundays with her best friend Cali, a loyal dog. Cali loves to sit beside with us. In general, we work through homework problems, such as correcting grammatical errors, composition structures and vocabularies usages. Besides it, we would practice conversation skill through sharing our experience of last week. If I had question, she would explain it in simplest way or draw some pictures to inspire my mind. Sometime, Ms. Brown would give my family a ride to museums, parks, restaurants, and even taught us how to make cupcakes.

Last year was my time to apply for transferring to a four-year university. The procedures were long, and I had to write personal statements. Ms. Brown gave me lots of her suggestions on my drafts and how to response the topics properly. In the May of this year, I received admissions from University of California. Finally, I have decided to go to the University of California, Los Angeles. We were happy to hear this news because it was the achievement between Ms. Brown and me.

In conclusion, I appreciate every Refugee Transitions staff’s encouragement thoughtfulness. Without them, I would not meet Ms. Brown or have a chance to continue my educational goal. After I graduate, I would like to be a volunteer in the Refugee Transitions to help people in need.