Sarah Davis

I was one of six students who volunteered at the International Institute of Rhode
Island. There mission statement is to enable all area residents, especially immigrants
and refugees, to become self-reliant, invested participants in our communities, while
fostering respect and understanding among all people. The six of us along with our CA
were assigned to a refugee family of 8 from Senegal, the Los family. The Los family has
six children ranging from a newborn to an 18 year old. During the time of my service
work I have learned a great deal about refugees and what it is to be a refugee. Before I
started my service work I thought a refugee was the same thing as an immigrant. A
refugee is A refugee is someone who has been forced to flee his or her country because
of persecution, war, or violence. The first couple of times that I went to the Los house I
was nervous and felt awkward. After going each week I became more comfortable with
them and they became more comfortable with me. Now when I talk about the Los family
I refer to them as my family at Providence. I have made a very special connection with
each member of the family. Last Friday was my last day with the family and when I had
to say goodbye it was an extremely hard thing to do as I formed a bond with them. This
family has become a part of my everyday life, I talk about them in conversation, I tell
stories about them to my friends, and I show pictures of them to my friends. It was
particularly hard to connect with them on a political manner because of the fact they are
refugees. They do not understand the policy and politics of the United States. I think
there are too many other things going on in their life to focus on politics. They can barely
speak English, and for them to talk politics or deal with political matters with them is
extremely difficult. Making it even more challenging is that fact that they are refugees

and living in a camp, which they may not want to talk about. I cannot force it out of them
and I do not think they want to dwell on it. They also do not seem to understand one
policy that they are required to follow because they are refugees; the children are required
to go to school. The 16-year-old daughter has been skipping school to help take care of
the newborn baby. This is a culture clash; in their culture normally the oldest daughter
takes on the role of the mother when the mother is out, or hurt.
I believe our work in teaching the family English has contributed to their freedom.
As they learn more and more English they become less dependent on the International
Institute of Rhode Island and become more self-sufficient. Learning English would help
them get a job, but since both parents suffer from medical problems learning English will
not make it so they can get a job very easily. They will be more likely to get a job, but
their medical issues will still hold them back. With every word they learn in English they
are becoming more involved with society, they will become more accepted into society
by others because they can hold a conversation. Learning English will definitely help the
children gain freedom as they become older. Our work with the Los family helps them
become free from the International Institute, and judgment from society. This allows the
International Institute help another family in need.
The Los family has affected my freedom, because through them I have gained an
incredible amount of knowledge. I have learned what a refugee is but learned about the
benefits of connecting with people on a local level without speaking on the same level. I
believe freedom is gained through education of textbooks and also education of
experience and submersing yourself in a situation.

I do not consider my service work with the Los as political, I feel that refugees are
a political issue, but my work with the Los family was not political. I did not find the
International Institute of Rhode Island political as well. My service work connects to
politics because a majority of refugees receives SSI and this is a political issue. The Los
receive SSI because both parents are physically disabled, but they can only receive it for
up to seven years. The concern for the Los Family is what will happen to them after the
SSI is up in seven years and if they are still not United States citizens. The family earns
no income and the only money they receive is from the government because of their
disabilities. Maodo the 18-year-old son plans on going to college but he is concerned
about the money part because he knows that college is expensive.
I do consider my service work, work of global citizen. I consider myself closer to
being a global citizen. For me the things that qualify you to be a global citizen are: being
educated, being free, a cosmopolitan view, and being active in service. Working with the
Los family my education has increased therefore my freedom has increased. When you
become more educated you gain freedom. From my service work I have gained
knowledge of refugees, refugees camp, connecting and establishing relationships with
people who are from a culture different from myself. I also now consider the problems of
Refugees in Africa as a problem for America I have more of a cosmopolitan view.
Working with the Los family has helped me practice my global citizenship learning. By
doing this service I have become active in society to help the cause and the awareness of
refugees and the struggle they have.
The connection between citizenship, politics, and freedom, and prospects of those
who migrate to the U.S. for equal opportunity is complex. I thought that being citizens

would mean you are free, but from the lectures in politics class I have found that freedom
is not guarantee from gaining citizenship. I do believe that if the Los family becomes
United States citizens they would receive more freedom then they have now, but not total
freedom. For the Los family and others who migrate to the United States they do not
appear to have equal opportunity. They seem to be set up to fail, especially if they do not
know English. They get jobs where they receive horrible hours but need to keep the job to
support their family. Refugees live their life in fear and struggle every day to survive and
when they come to the United States it still seems like that is the same. They are working
paycheck to paycheck to pay their bills. Since they do not know English they cannot have
more a leisured job where they have better hours, better insurance, and earn a higher
salary. I think that younger the refugee is the better chance they have at making the
connection between politics, citizenship and gaining freedom.
I think the community service aspect was valuable experience to have in this
course. It has opened our minds; we now understand an issue more then we could have
ever understood if we just read it out from a textbook. Before the community service I
thought immigrants and refugees were receiving too much money and too much support.
I was surprised that the Los family was receiving money from the government because
the parents had medical issues. After spending my Friday afternoons with the Los family
I do not think they are receiving too much. I think the complete opposite and believe that
the government should be giving more attention to refugees and provide them with more
money and support to help eliminate refugees. If the Los family personally asked me for
something and I could give it to them I would do it in a heartbeat. I learned a lot from the
students presentations on his or her community site. I would have never learned this

information from a tour of the service site or their written literature. Through community
service we as students have become closer to being global citizens, we are more educated
then we would have become if we spent those hours in a classroom. The service work at
the site has made us transform from our thoughts from some closed minded ideas to new
open-minded ideas. I thoroughly enjoyed the class and the service work that we were
required to complete.