Pre-Service

   I have a couple of hopes for the service project that I will be starting today.  Hopefully my group and I will be able to help the family that we have been matched up with, whether it be by helping them with their English or whatever else that they need help with.  I also hope that I won't be too shy around the family to start up a conversation or to start an activity while we're there.  I just hope that I will do a good job helping the family with whatever they need help with.

   I don't think I have any specific assumptions about my service-learning site.  I know that we are going to be going to the refugee's houses, but I'm not sure if they are just places that the organization placed them and they are with other families or if they have their own apartment.  I only assume that the family that my group and I will be meeting with for this project will have made their house as much of a home as they are able to.

   I don't really know that much about refugees.  I know that a refugee is a person that came to the US because they were unable to stay in their home county, for a number of reasons, like political unrest.  'm not sure if the family that we will be meeting with will be able to speak that much English or if they have a good grasp on English and just need help figuring out more practical things, like figuring out how to read a bus schedule or filling out important paperwork.  Hopefully the family that we are preparing to meet is friendly, welcoming, and ready to learn!

   I'm really interested in learning more about the family that my group and I will be meeting.  I probably won't ask them why they left their home country, probably a good thing since it may be very emotional for them to talk about.  I'm just really interested in learning more about how the organization World Relief does when they have volunteers like me come into a family's home.