This morning, we drove to Migration & Refugee Services for their early morning class and helped refugees learn English and language. We took a brief lunch break and headed back in for their second class to help with present/past tense verb understanding. We had some time to talk to the students and ask them questions, like what their favorite food was (most of them liked "fufu"!) or what their job was before coming to the states. They also showed some interest in us and we were able to bond with them. Victoria noted that we all had different ways we could help contribute to teach them English. Naima liked that the teacher respected the refugee's cultures and was saying "thank you" in their languages. The class was very engaging and it was fun talking to each individual.
After the class ended, we went to Greater Cleveland Food Bank and packed several pallets of lunches that will be distributed to kids. We worked as an assembly line to be most efficient. Chris was surprised by how big and modern the food bank was. It was nice and the warehouse was very clean. We were impressed by how the services were organized. After our time there, we felt good about the amount of lunches we packed and know we helped make a difference.
We went back to the hostel, enjoyed some spaghetti, and hung out for the rest of the night. It's been a great trip!
- Laura, Liz, Chris, Deon, Naima, Frankie, Mario, Victoria, Hailey