Work over the past few months has been a barrage of busy, stressful and heartfelt learning experiences. Something that has been scrolling through my mind over and over are the older refugees that I see in our office. What makes me stop to think is when I see Grandparents. What if those were my Grandparents there. Looking politely confused and a little nervous. What if it was my Dad there with the family. Dutifully standing up for the family, representing them as the spokesperson. Or would it be me or one of my sisters who knew the language better? Acting as a translator, child turned mediator playing the adult role.
What if it was my family who had to start over. My father is educated. He holds two degrees and has decades of work experience and skills to his credit. But if he didn’t speak the language….little of that would count for anything. He would be looking for whatever job he could to provide for the family. As would any of us really. Each would look for whatever kind of employment we could in order to help support the each other. The five of us would probably be living in a two bedroom apartment, three bedrooms if we were lucky. No car, public transportation only. What a heart breaking prospect.
What if it was my family that were the refugees?
On a less tragic note, but sad (for other reasons) I just finished creating the Immigration Department Video for our annual fundraising event. This is a sad fact because I hold no skill in the video making field and have no creativity when it comes to that kind of thing. I do have a Mac however which is really all one needs these days. A Mac, a boss who knows what she wants and a four days past a deadline and whoolaaa-poof a fundraising video is made.
My next project to tackle is the implementation of a grant we were recently awarded. It promises to be a project with great possibility for a lot of hard work and frustration. But unlike the video project, my role in this is largely administrative- which I like and feel much more comfortable with. According to some tests administration skills are my spiritual gift. The hard work and organization doesn’t bother me. Im happy to be working on a new project that I understand its clear goals and measurable outcomes.
What if it was my family who had to start over. My father is educated. He holds two degrees and has decades of work experience and skills to his credit. But if he didn’t speak the language….little of that would count for anything. He would be looking for whatever job he could to provide for the family. As would any of us really. Each would look for whatever kind of employment we could in order to help support the each other. The five of us would probably be living in a two bedroom apartment, three bedrooms if we were lucky. No car, public transportation only. What a heart breaking prospect.
What if it was my family that were the refugees?
On a less tragic note, but sad (for other reasons) I just finished creating the Immigration Department Video for our annual fundraising event. This is a sad fact because I hold no skill in the video making field and have no creativity when it comes to that kind of thing. I do have a Mac however which is really all one needs these days. A Mac, a boss who knows what she wants and a four days past a deadline and whoolaaa-poof a fundraising video is made.
My next project to tackle is the implementation of a grant we were recently awarded. It promises to be a project with great possibility for a lot of hard work and frustration. But unlike the video project, my role in this is largely administrative- which I like and feel much more comfortable with. According to some tests administration skills are my spiritual gift. The hard work and organization doesn’t bother me. Im happy to be working on a new project that I understand its clear goals and measurable outcomes.
posted by Starrchild at 10:07 AM
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