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Youth on the Move: Immigrant Students Tell Their Stories
What does it feel like to come to America? Thirteen
students from South Philadelphia High School set out
to answer this question through essays and poems at
a recent public reading at South Philadelphia
Library. The event was called "Youth on the Move:
Immigrant Autobiographies," and the participants
were foreign-born students enrolled in the Welcoming
Center's Bridging Cultures program at the high
school.
Coming from Indonesia, 16 year-old Barcsy Minoza was
awed by the sheer scale of the U.S. "When I arrived
here, I was amazed with the place and people," she
wrote. "It was really different from our country.
The cars were very big and there are a lot of huge
buildings."
Audience members chuckled at Manuela Azcona-Torres's
description of her joy at the diversity of American
food. "In the Dominican Republic when you go to buy
your lunches they only sell soda, chips, and candy,"
she wrote. "But in the USA you have different foods
like rice, cheese steaks and pizza." A Jordanian
student also wrote about food, describing his
rice-cooking technique in a succinct poem.
Priscilia Dharmwan, another Indonesian student,
explained how difficult it was to learn English, but
at the same time expressed the need to be
persistent. "Today, sometimes I am still afraid that
people would ask me something that I do not
understand. Nevertheless, I know people will respect
me for my effort. That is why I will not stop
exploring. My journey just started, and I will not
stop until I get a promising future."
Other young people shared stories of harrowing
journeys to safety in the U.S. Liberian refugee
Linda Kou's essay described the political violence
that shaped her childhood and terrorized her
community. After the murder of her grandparents,
Linda was separated from her parents. "There was no
food to eat," she recalled. "The people didn't like
us, because we didn't have a father and mom. Then
my little sister died because she didn't have food.
A lot of people in that place are suffering. I had
nobody to play with, no water to bathe with."
Bridging Cultures Program Coordinator Jennifer
Sommerkorn introduced each of the readers. "It's so
important to provide students with a forum for
sharing their personal experiences of settling in
the United States," she said. "As a teenager you
begin to develop your own identity, so hearing these
essays gives us all a chance to see what makes each
student unique."
"Youth on the Move" was a part of the Free Library's
One Book, One Philadelphia
program. The event concluded with a selection from
Esperanza Rising, a novel about a
Mexican-American
girl which was one of the works selected by the One
Book,
One Philadelphia Committee for all Philadelphians to
read in 2007. The other book is Waiting for Snow in
Havana: Confessions of a Cuban Boy, a memoir by
historian Carlos Eire.
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Client Profile: Elisa Bernd
Meet Elisa Bernd. She's a doctoral candidate at
Temple University, and a researcher at the nonprofit
OMG Center for Collaborative Learning in
Philadelphia. She's also a client of the Welcoming
Center, having recently attended our legal clinic.
It's no surprise to hear that immigration law is
complicated. But it might be a surprise that
even a graduate student who is fluent
in English can find the morass of paperwork
intimidating. When Elisa applied for a green card,
she turned to the Welcoming Center's volunteer
attorneys for assistance.
Like all of the attendees at our monthly clinics,
Elisa had a chance to ask her questions in private
during a half-hour consultation. A few months later,
she sent us an update:
The Welcoming Center's legal clinic has made my
green card application process unbelievably easy.
Your knowledgeable staff and attorneys assisted me
with filling out those complicated forms, and were
able to tell me exactly what to expect every step of
the way. Thanks to them, I got my card last week!
The Welcoming Center is providing immigrants with a
much-needed service.
Elisa is not alone. Our clients regularly tell us
how confusing they find the immigration process.
Questions that can be addressed in a single
consultation are handled by our legal clinic, while
more lengthy or specialized issues are referred to
our colleagues in the nonprofit community, such as
Nationalities Service Center, Catholic Social
Services, and HIAS and Council
Migration Service.
Welcoming Center legal clinics take place on the
second Tuesday of every month from 3:00-6:00 p.m.
Free interpretation services are available.
The next clinic will be held on February 13,
2007. For more information or to sign up, contact
Margaret Hilsdon
at 215-557-2626 or margaret@welcomingcenter.org
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Greetings! 
The Welcoming Center recently received a $10,000
grant from the Verizon Foundation. "The funding will
allow the WCNP to help clients hone important
computer and other job skills as they enter the
American job market," said WCNP Program and Legal
Services Coordinator Margaret Hilsdon. "We are
delighted to accept this contribution to increasing
technological literacy, which is so important in
finding employment."
Welcoming Center Executive Director Anne O'Callaghan
has joined the board of the Southeast Asian Mutual
Assistance Associations Coalition (SEAMAAC). Founded
in 1984, SEAMAAC is a key provider of services to
the Cambodian, Chinese, Hmong, Laotian and
Vietnamese communities in Philadelphia.
Executive Director Anne O'Callaghan discussed the
positive economic impact of immigration on the
Philadelphia region as part of the University of
Pennsylvania's Public Conversations Lecture Series.
Sponsored by Penn's Urban Studies Program, the
2007 series is entitled "Urban Poverty & Prosperity:
Building an Agenda for Philadelphia's Next Mayor."
The Welcoming Center is able to provide services
through the generous financial support of
foundations, corporations, public agencies, and
individuals.
