Refugee Resettlement

Yassir steps to the whiteboard, deliberately and perfectly solving a long algebra problem. He smiles, and it's impossible not to want to cheer out loud.

On this August night, Yassir and other refugee students are studying for the GED at LSI's Refugee Community Center. They tackle another problem, and the classroom falls silent, except for murmured numbers and the quiet, concentrated scribbling of pencil on paper.

Three of these students are from Sudan, known most recently for the humanitarian crisis in Darfur that has displaced over two million people.

But this story is not about their past. This story is about their future, a future that for today at least requires solving math story problems about cars and miles, cups of cream and ratios of voter turnout.

After being resettled to Iowa by LSI, these former refugees meet twice a week for math, science, reading, writing and social studies. Passing their GED will help them further their education and employment opportunities.

One of the first students to attend was Ali, who arrived in Iowa over a year ago. After fleeing Sudan, he worked in a market in Cairo, Egypt, while waiting to be permanently resettled.

He already knew three languages before now tackling English as an adult.

"This is the hardest one for me to learn," he said. "I have learned a lot in this class. I learned to speak to people. I can explain myself now. I expect my English to improve as I keep coming to class."

Go around the room and ask about their goals for the future. Fleeing their homelands may have stripped them of many things, but not their dreams; each one wants to attend college here.

Ali wants to study law. For Abdalla, it's computer engineering. Amal wants to be a business woman. Yassir is debating between pharmacy and medical or surgical technology.

But first they must pass the GED. Ever had a nightmare about repeating high school? Throw in a twist – this time all your classes are taught in a foreign language – and you'll get a sense of the challenge.

"For the most part, they don't have a lot of the English vocabulary to work quickly through topics and subjects that they otherwise know very well in their native languages," said Frank Swoboda, one of LSI's volunteer teachers. "It's often very frustrating for them to go over and over a problem that wouldn't take them any time at all in their native language. Their attitudes though are great – gracious, helpful to each other, warm and eager to ask questions."

It may be frustrating, but there is no bitterness in this room. Only determination.

Another page. Another problem. Each one is another step toward living their dreams.

A special thanks to the Des Moines volunteers currently leading these classes - Frank Swoboda, Brandon Mick, James Baier and Terri Schreiber.