ECO Gleanings

So far this semester Contextual Education has been one of my favorites spaces. This program places students in a variety of social service agencies to serve weekly. I am working with refugees being resettled in Clarkston, GA.  Clarkston is something like ‘the most densely diverse area per square mile’ due to the abundance of refugees being resettled in Clarkston each week. Here I get to know the refugee families in their first 21 days of life in Georgia. We sit together in “class” (an apartment located alongside their apartments in Clarkston) and as 25-30 of us squeeze into the living room we begin Extended Cultural Orientation (ECO), speaking 6-7 languages, doing a lot of smiling, and sipping tea and coca-cola together, we look at a lot of pictures together and talk about all of the systems and structures that America functions on. We talk about healthcare and the education system, ESL classes and employment opportunities. We learn how to take the Marta, open bank accounts, and get library cards. We talk about transitioning and the stress associated with that. We talk about mental health and family systems.

Every week I am learning. I learn new greetings in Burmese, Swahili or Arabic (last week I watched Aristocats with some of the kids and they taught me how to say cat and old man in Nepali). Sometimes I am even lucky enough to hear about one’s journey to the US and what life was like in their resettlement country as well as the conditions of their home country. I meet doctors, chefs, teachers, and entrepreneurs. I am reminded that each family’s story is  particular to them. I am reminded of the talented persons that have been displaced to US because of political, religious, ethnic or other social group persecution.

The setting and structure of ECO is creating space for me to do exactly what I feel Con ED should be doing. Weekly, I get to enter into a space that I  consider sacred. Here I meet new families and add to my narrative bank as some share their journeys with me. But I am not only enjoying learning the many cultural practices that differ from my own, but I am learning how to extend and receive hospitality well. I am practicing patience as we try to meet each other in the middle relying on body language and hand gestures to communicate. I am learning how to listen both literally and figuratively. I have felt surprisingly grateful for my American status. I have been surprised by the ways that the government has systems in place to financially and medically offer support to refugees in their initial resettlement period.

I feel thankful for the new faces that have patiently worked through the language barrier with me, as we come alongside each other, seeking common ground.

In the space that ECO is, I have the unique opportunity to slow down, sit, and be. In these moments I have the chance to use my imagination and ponder what genuine empathy can and should look like. It creates space for me to self-reflect and become more self-aware. I am learning how to be comfortable and confident in not having a lead role as well as having the confidence to ask a client to repeat their name (sometimes three times!). It is humbling to practice the ministry of presence. I am thankful for my time at ECO--it is allowing me to weave together my head, heart, and hands.

These are just a few things that I have been gleaning through my time at ECO. I really am getting a contextual education experience.  

Still living and learning,

Hannah