{"id":857,"date":"2016-12-15T18:07:40","date_gmt":"2016-12-15T15:07:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/?p=857"},"modified":"2017-10-15T18:11:29","modified_gmt":"2017-10-15T15:11:29","slug":"making-room-for-one-more-hope-and-need-adventures-in-friendship-with-a-syrian-refugee-woman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/making-room-for-one-more-hope-and-need-adventures-in-friendship-with-a-syrian-refugee-woman\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Room for One More: Hope and Need Adventures in friendship with a Syrian Refugee Woman"},"content":{"rendered":"

By: Georgia Coats<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"When the world around me seemingly swirls with hatred, anger and fear, and my heart is heavy for the hurting, my coping mechanism is to reminisce on stories of hope in the midst of great need.\u00a0 In my profession of language teaching, motivation is a key element for success.\u00a0 Motivation in life, as in language learning, contains two essential ingredients:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. You have to think you can do something: hope<\/li>\n
  2. You have to think that it matters: need. In October I was reticent to click send<\/em><\/strong> on my article, Make Room for One More,<\/em><\/strong> because I knew that if I made my thoughts public, my own words would move me to action, and I wasn\u2019t sure I had the capacity to skootch over<\/em> in my daily life.\u00a0 The last thing I want to do in this refugee crisis is talk about doing something and then do nothing<\/em>.\u00a0 The need was clear: I believed wholeheartedly that my small action to make a difference in one refugee\u2019s life mattered; but I wasn\u2019t sure I could actually do something about it on my own. That\u2019s where hope is bigger than me.\u00a0 It requires me to believe that impossible things can happen in daily life.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \u201cHope is bigger than me.\u00a0 It requires me to believe that impossible things can happen in daily life.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

    I said a prayer, and I found a moment in my hectic day to call my New American<\/em> friend that I have endearingly nicknamed Zuzu<\/em>.\u00a0 Zuzu and I had connected at the Sabeel Media Event in October, where she had expressed that she needed help finding a preschool for her son.\u00a0 I had already called at least eight Head Start preschool locations in her zip code before I got on the phone with Zuzu.\u00a0 I offered to come over the next day, take her to visit a preschool, and teach her some English.\u00a0 To my surprise, she told me NOT to come.\u00a0 She said that she had already found a preschool, that her family was moving to a better location, and that she was too busy right now for me to come visit with her.\u00a0 As it turned out, there was no room in her<\/em> week for me, and it was clear that she was taking care of her needs on her own.\u00a0\u00a0 She didn\u2019t need my charity to survive, which made me even more determined than ever to get to know this highly motivated woman.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    When things settled for Zuzu, I came by to see her new place.\u00a0 In her intermediate English she reported that she has signed up for English classes at the local college, she was studying for her driver\u2019s permit, and she was in walking distance from most of the places she needed to get to each week.\u00a0 She has been in the U.S. since April and she is determined to settle her family here.\u00a0 Zuzu\u2019s vision is bigger than she is.\u00a0 Her hope is deep.\u00a0 Her potential is great.\u00a0 Her work is humble.\u00a0 She walks her in-laws to the doctor, her son to preschool; she cooks and cleans and does the laundry for her household of six.\u00a0 At night when everything is quiet, she studies English and listens to audio messages I leave for her to practice each week.\u00a0 Zuzu\u2019s not lazy.\u00a0 She doesn\u2019t want to live indefinitely off of the kindness of others.\u00a0 On the contrary, she wants to be an agent of care and change and assistance to others.\u00a0 She also would like to go home if she could.\u00a0 But she can\u2019t.\u00a0 So her plan is to bloom where she has currently been transplanted\u2014right here in Dearborn, MI, USA.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \u201cHer plan is to bloom where she has currently been transplanted\u2014right here in Dearborn, MI, USA.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

    From our visits together over the last five weeks I have learned that Zuzu is Syrian Kurdish.\u00a0 Her hope is seen in the languages she wants her kids to know: English of course, so they can thrive in their new community.\u00a0 Kurdish of course, because that is the language of heart and home.\u00a0 Arabic of course, because you can\u2019t live in Syria and not know Arabic.\u00a0 She is preparing her son and her daughter to function in this new world, but also to be ready to return to her beloved home country\u2026someday, Inshallah (God willing)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    My first step in our mini English lessons, sitting on the floor of her upper flat on soft blankets against big couch pillows, sipping warm, sweet instant coffee with milk, was to identify her goals for learning English.\u00a0 We came up with five: 1. Help her mother and father-in-law with their medical issues, prescriptions, and paperwork<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Help her kids learn English.<\/li>\n
    2. Go to college<\/li>\n
    3. Talk about travel and places to visit<\/li>\n
    4. Tell her personal history. She believes that learning English matters. She also clearly believes she can do it.\u00a0 Unless you\u2019ve ever worked with someone that motivated to learn something, it\u2019s difficult to describe how exhilarating it is.\u00a0 Her need is clear. Her desire is clear.\u00a0 She has hope for her future that is bigger than she is.\u00a0 And I have received the privilege of joining her venture.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

       <\/p>\n

      As Zuzu and I continue to scoot in each week to make room for each other in our lives, we have found joy in the process.\u00a0 She has a vision to teach her downstairs neighbor, who speaks less English than she does.\u00a0 I brought my daughter to play language games with her little ones.\u00a0 She showed me another goal statement she had crafted late one night.\u00a0 It said this: I want to help refugees and orphans.\u00a0 I hope to be one assistant for all.\u00a0 And be successful in my life and my children the best education.\u00a0 That my goals. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      \u201cTogether our hearts break for the displaced people of her country.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

      \u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

      As a writer, I want to carefully handle the stories entrusted to me.\u00a0 This last week, sipping our coffee, I pulled out the Yemeni American Newspaper and showed it to Zuzu.\u00a0 I explained to her the article I wrote last month, Make Room for One More<\/em><\/strong>, was inspired by her.\u00a0 I told her that in my heart I follow the teachings of Jesus the Messiah.\u00a0 He says to love others, and if I don\u2019t do that, then I am not a very good follower.\u00a0 Zuzu and I share a vision of helping those in need.\u00a0 Together our hearts break for the displaced people of her country.\u00a0 I asked her if I could share her beautifully articulated goals because they inspire me, and I think they would inspire many.\u00a0 She agreed.\u00a0 I look forward to sharing more of our life\u2019s hopes, goals, dreams and stories together as Zuzu\u2019s English comprehension increases.\u00a0 My prayer is for all of us to experience a little of the impossible in our daily lives; to experience a hope that is bigger than the determination of any one human being\u2014a collective and contagious courage.\u00a0 My prayer is for many more to get out of harm\u2019s way and be welcomed into a safer place where hope can be nurtured.<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

      ~For I know the plans I have for you,\u201d declares the Lord, \u201cplans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.~\u00a0\u00a0 <\/em><\/strong>The Prophet Jeremiah<\/em><\/p>\n

      <\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By: Georgia Coats When the world around me seemingly swirls with hatred, anger and fear, and my heart is heavy for the hurting, my coping mechanism is to reminisce on stories of hope in the midst of great need.\u00a0 In my profession of language teaching, motivation is a key element for success.\u00a0 Motivation in life, […]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=857"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":860,"href":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/857\/revisions\/860"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/yemeniamerican.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}