Wow we had a busy weekend! Two hockey games, won both - yeah! Community service, church and then a party of sorts at our house all day today. Oh, and then out to dinner and Fritz's for ice cream with our neighbors. Fun but boy am I tired!

The highlight of the weekend had to be the community service we did. This is something we had been wanting to do for sometime as a family and the stars lined to make it possible. We participated with our church and initially was assigned a nursing home downtown. We were to talk and sing if we wanted with the residents. Ok, so how do I say this... this facility was not what one would consider a top of the line nursing home if you know what I mean. It took me a bit to figure out what was going on and to talk with the people. John took to it right away, he can be so chatty. He started talking with some men sitting at one table. The boys and I made our way to another table where another volunteer was. We talked with a man who was holding a deck of cards and another women who was very spirited. She was a character and we quickly learned she loved Pepsi and she LOVED Michael Jackson and his song Beat It. Before we left we had the pleasure of hearing her sing it as well as a couple lines from an Elvis song. lol. Chad really liked that part.

We actually didn't stay here long because we immediately realized that we had more volunteers then the space really held. So our family got to travel to South County and volunteer with Burmese refugees at a church. Wow - what an experience. I can't say that we really did anything to help but we got to see who they were and try to understand what they are going thru. From what I understand, most of them have lived in refugee camps their entire lives. It is unknown how many can even read and write their own language, and we know they don't know english. They have a place that the government has arranged for them but that's about it. We were told that most of them would be killed if they returned and many had seen many horrible things.

When we first got there we saw it was a medium sized room with a pool table in it and three small groups of people in circles. Children were running in and out of the room, some moms were holding small children in the halls. Around the pool table were young boys. Alex and Chad were asked to play pool with the boys. It was explained that the children understood english better then the adults so chances were higher that they might understand what the boys would be saying. If not, just talk anyway. Off they went together. I was so proud of them, and so happy there was an activity like that to help get them started.

John and I were put into two of the circles, apart. In my circle there were two men and three women, one with a small child. I got to sit next to the small child which was fun because we played peek-a-boo. In our group the main volunteer was trying her best to ask them basic questions. Because we arrived late I am not sure the purpose of these questions but it was interesting none-the-less. We learned that two had all been farmers and one a plumber, they do call home once a month to speak with their families, they do know American Idol and the weather where they were from was warm, and it rained. I missed where they were from specifically and how long this particular group had been in a refugee camp. Since they said they were farmers and a plumber I'm assuming they did not grow up in the camp but then again... After the small group, they moved into a large group for a lesson on leasing apartments. During this time I tried to play with this little boy who was just wanted his fathers attention. His father, however, was trying his best to listen to the speaker and understand what he was saying. (The speaker spoke in both english and their language). What to do. The little boy was quickly becoming a distraction to everyone. I glanced around and luckily found a small train. I picked it up and waited until the boy glanced in my direction. I pointed to him and the train. I then rolled it on the floor away from his father. The little boy immediately ran to the train and began playing with it. Yes it was a little noisy but ended up being much less of a distraction, so I felt I had succeeded. At one point I even had him rolling it back and forth to me. Of course that didn't last long but we got a good 4 or 5 rolls back and forth which I thought wasn't bad. Afterwards pizza was delivered. Many of them had never had pizza before. The boys loved it. They couldn't believe it and enjoyed watching them try something so basic to us for the first time. John even played pool with one man. It was really neat.

When we left both boys said they really enjoyed the day and especially liked seeing the refugees. They both want to go back and really try to help. Next time we go we are going to be prepared. We will go there first thing in the morning to get our assignment and hopefully get to work more one on one with a family. The program is only three months old and they don't yet have a structure of what they are doing. It seems volunteers can help in many different ways. If we go again I'm going to make a trip to the teacher supply store ahead of time and get some flash cards and worksheets. They said at this point teaching them anything is better then nothing. Working with their names, addresses and currency is a great start. Can you imagine being placed in a foreign country without the ability to speak the language and little support?

This experience made me wonder why I didn't know about this. I'm assuming I just haven't paid attention. I don't read the paper and I watch the news so sporadically. It made me think about how I feel about this and I don't have an answer, partly because I know so little about why they are here. What I do know is they are here and if they are here they do need help. They do need to know how to live, how to support their families while merging in with our culture and laws.

Whooo, what a weekend!