This article was written by Jim McCune,

volunteer with iACT for Refugees

I guess you could say that I was “embarrassed into action” late in 2015 when I first heard our current Texas Governor expressing his opinions and personal biases against accepting immigrants into our state, including comments containing inferences that made me cringe.  I was already starting to attend iACT’s Red Bench dialogue evenings, and started looking for a volunteer opportunity to help teach English as a Second Language (ESL) since my current IT contracting position is only part-time.  I soon learned about iACT’s ESL program, and after the application and interview process I was quickly brought in as a Teaching Assistant.

After the first day working with adult students and Tracey, their ESL Teacher, I realized that I had found the perfect way to show new immigrants to Austin that many of us are happy they have found their way to Austin and the United States, and we want to support them in starting their new lives here.  Most of the students are women, and many of them have husbands who are working full-time jobs – leaving them to take care of children or perhaps a parent, and run the household.  But these are not suburban Mom’s driving SUV’s to pick up kids at school, take them to the doctor, or shop at HEB.   These Moms must depend on CapMetro buses for transportation everywhere, and without proficiency in English they face severe challenges just surviving in our city.  These daily classes at a downtown church (with child-care provided) are giving them practical English experience in speaking and writing, as well as providing a social hub for connecting with other refugees and making new friends.

There are men in the classes too, but they are often well past middle-age or may be dealing with the reality that their former career as a lawyer, businessman, or government employee has no relevance in the Austin job market without solid English skills and prior job experience in this country.  Or they may be struggling with a learning disability that intensifies the difficulty of learning a new language.  These men band together in class and help each other just as the women do when one of their peers is not understanding a new word or concept.

The fastest learners, and the ones who most quickly advance in proficiency are the young men and women, some of whom are still teenagers.  It is fun to see these young students patiently whispering explanations in the ear of an older adult student who shares their native language.  As teachers, we are sad to see these excellent students advance to the next level and leave for another more-advanced class.  But since both Tracey and I have also chosen CapMetro to get around downtown without the hassles of parking, we often meet former students on buses or at bus stops and are happy to see their progress in turning into successful First-Generation Texans.

In addition to the students, I’ve enjoyed getting to know some of the regular teachers in iACT’s ESL program – seeing how we are all at different stages of our lives, with different backgrounds and challenges and reasons for being there.   Yet we share a love for these students and the mission of teaching them English.

While I am only able to volunteer one day a week I often have entered the church, climbed the stairs, and been greeted with a friendly “Hi Teacher!” from a student in the hallway.  An even better reward is seeing a very quiet or withdrawn student transformed into an active and engaged class-member who feels safe enough to ask a question, read a story aloud, or even make a joke in their new language while flashing a hopeful smile that says “Did I make you laugh?”   Yes, you made me laugh.   And welcome to Texas!