Gould Academy student Sadie Harvey, 15, plays tic-tac-toe with Mahir Mohsin, 5, of Lewiston at the Maine Immigrant and Refugee Services Center on Bartlett Street in Lewiston on Monday. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
LEWISTON — High school student Bella Wang sat next to Somali refugee Nurto Abdi on Monday. Wang asked Abdi a series of questions to help her with her English-speaking skills.
“How long have you lived in the United States?”
“Do you have children?”
“Do you like living here?”
Abdi thought for a moment before answering in English: She came to the United States in 2016. She has five children. She likes living here.
While many organizations honored Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday, a racially diverse group at the Maine Immigrant and Refugee Services center in Lewiston observed the day by doing for others, with many volunteers from Gould Academy in Bethel.
Maine Immigrant and Refugee Services (MEIRS) helps immigrant and refugee youth and their families move toward social and economic self-sufficiency and mental, emotional and physical well-being.
The volunteers included high school students who led children in soccer games and running at Longley Elementary School.
At the center at 256 Bartlett St., students played board games and worked on arts and crafts with children. They worked with adults, teaching sewing, knitting and English.
During the conversation sessions, a list of suggestions written on the whiteboard included: “I like that shirt.” “So do I.” “How much is it?” “I don’t know. The tag is missing. Ask the clerk.”
Gould students participate in the conversation sessions not just on MLK Jr. Day but on most weekends. It helps them, said those learning English.
“In order to learn English, I have to practice a lot,” Abdi said through an interpreter.
She’s trying to understand and express herself. Sitting down with an English speaker “is a good opportunity for me.”
Wang, a native of China, said she enjoys talking to Abdi.
“It’s a pleasure to work with her,” Wang said. “I learn a lot. She tells me about her life here.”
Gould Academy teacher Adam Leff, chairman of the language department, said learning English “is the most important thing for people here at the center.”
It is a lifeline. Knowing English allows immigrants to settle and integrate.
“Often times this is the one time of the week they come into contact with only English speakers,” Leff said.
As he spoke a little boy came up to him holding a “tic-tac-toe” magnet game. The boy wanted to play. “I’ll get someone to play with you,” Leff said.
A few moments later Sadie Harvey, 15, sat with Mahir Mohsin, 5, playing the game.
“My turn!” he said.
“Oh, you’re so silly!” she said. “You won! Good job!”
MLK Jr. Day used to be a day of rest for students, Harvey said.
“We decided to use this as a day to do good, like MLK did.” She’s happy to participate, she said. “I love kids.” Working with them “makes me happy.”
MEIRS staffer Jama Mohamed said celebrating MLK Jr. Day at the immigrant center is important.
Youngsters know about King through school, but many adults don’t know who he was or what the day is about, he said. His organization hopes MLK Jr. Day will become an annual event almost as big as an Eid celebration.
Because of King, black immigrants are living what he worked for, Mohamed said, adding: “He said, ‘I have a dream.’ We see it. We are living it. We are here.”
More work to reduce racism needs to happen, Mohamed said, “but there’s a lot of work that’s already happened. We’ve seen a black president get elected. That’s a big improvement.”
Mohamed paused and added that since Thursday, when President Trump reportedly made a racially charged comment about immigrants from “s—hole countries,” he has been getting calls from family in Kenya.
“My dad, my mom, my brothers. In the last couple of days they’re calling saying: ‘Are you guys OK? What’s going to happen?'”
Mohamed tells his friends and relatives that what Trump said is part of his personality and that all is fine.
“But when the president says it,” he said, “it’s scares them about our safety.”
Lolo Leff of Bethel, center, teaches Kaltuon Guirreu, left, and Fartun Saban, both of Lewiston, how to crochet at the Maine Immigration and Refugee Services Center in Lewiston on Monday morning. (Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal)
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