The CWS Resettlement Support Center in Nairobi has implemented a new English as a Second Language pilot project. Photo: CWS
Imagine you’re a refugee who has never been to school and maybe never even held a pen or pencil. You don’t speak a word of English. And you’ve just been approved to resettle in the United States. You might well be feeling anxious, wondering what you are in for.
That pretty well describes the class of 91 Somali and Darfuri refugees chosen to participate in a 20-day (60-hour) English as a Second Language (ESL) Pilot Project at Kenya’s Kakuma Refugee Camp in September 2011.
The CWS Resettlement Support Center in Nairobi implemented the project, one of three such initiatives worldwide commissioned and funded by the U.S. State Department Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (PRM). The other pilot projects were conducted by other RSCs in Thailand and Nepal. (RSCs prepare case files for refugees being considered by the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program, and help with departure logistics.)
The goal: to measure the benefits of offering ESL to refugees before they depart for the U.S. rather than waiting (as is usual) until after arrival. If the initial evaluation in Kenya is any indication, pre-departure ESL shows great promise.
Based on student participation in class activities and interviews conducted following the training, CWS found that all 91 students were observed to have increased confidence. All students demonstrated a knowledge gain in oral language skills, and nearly all advanced one or two full levels. Similarly, most gained in literacy and numeracy skills.
Halimo, 37, put it this way: “Before this class I didn’t know how to write my name; I didn’t know how to say the time. Now I know something.” She added that her husband had voluntarily taken over all domestic work, including cooking and childcare, so Halimo could dedicate maximum time to her lessons.
During the 60-hour course, students covered significant ground. Material included reading numbers and the alphabet, introducing oneself in a formal situation, conveying basic personal information (What is your name? Where do you live? What country are you from? What languages do you speak?), asking for directions, phoning 9-1-1 in an emergency, months of the year, pronouns, family members, common gestures, names of common household items (plate, light switch), making purchases (U.S. money, identifying the correct price), and expressing lack of comprehension.
Among challenges: different approaches to telling time in the U.S. and in parts of East Africa. For Somali students, “one o’clock” refers to the first hour after the sun rises, or roughly what would be seven o’clock in the United States. This required the ESL instructors to explain the approach used in the U.S. and then practice it (What time did you wake up this morning? What time is it now?).
Attendance was high, students remained motivated and engaged, and nearly all said they studied after class every day. One student gave birth two days into the course and returned four days later. She, the baby, and the baby’s father attended every day following.
At the graduation ceremony, students were provided with a certificate of completion that they might show their receiving affiliate and a t-shirt with the phrase “I am an ESL graduate.”