By Daniel Hartill ,
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
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LEWISTON - As long as Lewiston's immigrant myths persist - big checks, new cars and chickens in the cupboard of the newly arrived Somalis - so will the needs.
Six years after Somalis began arriving in Lewiston by the hundreds, many families still struggle to learn English, to buy food or talk with a doctor about a sick child.
Those skills all take patience and effort to teach. And lots of local folks can help.
Some of the pleas were simple.
Lend a hand once a week at a literacy class, asked Kim Wettlaufer, the executive director of the Trinity Jubilee Center.
Other requests were more complicated: From joining community discussions to be run by the Portland-based Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence to volunteering with Lewiston Adult Education, where classes for immigrants include everything from learning conversational English to the particulars of Wal-Mart and its food labels.
Fatuma Hussein, one of the first Somalis to move to Lewiston, hinted that the six years since the migration to Lewiston began cannot overcome the simple fact that neither immigrants nor natives have learned to understand one another.
"It's hard to teach a person to change," she said.
And each new experience can be daunting.
Once someone develops their skills enough to get a job, they need to hold it. And they need to be able to do it without worry that they must overcompensate as immigrants.
"I tell them, 'Do your job. Do it right. You don't have to prove yourself to anybody,'" Hussein said.
Meanwhile, employers need to understand their new workers. Part of that is myth busting.
Hussein still hears them:
"Everybody gets a big check with they arrive." Wrong.
"Everybody gets a new car." Wrong.
"Somali families keep live chickens in their kitchen cabinets instead of food." Wrong.
"I hear that and say, 'Yeah. Right,'" Hussein said, weary over the still-repeated nonsense.
In the city's poorest neighborhoods, it feels bleak, Wettlaufer said.
"These are the two poorest census tracts in Maine," he said. "That was according to the 2000 census. I'd venture to say it's gotten worse."
About 18 months ago, his organization opened a food pantry once a week, he said. When it began it served 30 people. Now, it serves 180, Wettlaufer said.
Comments |
| Posted By:ABG at September 11, 2007 9:10 AM (Suggest Removal) The only comment I have is that Hussein tells these people that they don't have to prove themselves when they have a new job. UMMMM! Everyone has to prove themselves when they get a new job. They have to prove they can do the job, they have to prove they have the skills to do the job. I'm for giving everyone a chance, because sometimes they only learn the skills with on-the-job training, but they have to do as everyone else has to do when they get a new job, PROVE THEMSELVES! | Add your comments |
| Posted By:Community Partner at September 11, 2007 9:10 AM (Suggest Removal) That's great that there is so much help out there. I think that some of people may be abusing the help, there is a food pantry right around the corner from Trinity thats open 5 days a week from 9-11:00. I've seen the same people going into both pantries.Wettlaufers number have gone up because people are telling each other and as food pantries they are duplicating services. Couldn't they work together?? |