work at the institute is... challenging. but only because i'm still learning what is expected of me, and because i'm slightly overwhelmed the more i learn those expectations. they have me working on a newsletter, legal fundraising, supply reorganization (i.e. bitch-work, but it's cool), refugee resettlement / client services, preparing computers for refugees who need them....

the first four days of the week had me wondering if i'd get to do anything fulfilling at all this summer. i was excited to work at the institute because i wanted opportunities to work directly with refugees and asylees, help them find places in the city, help them become acquainted with americana. it didn't look like i'd be doing any of that when i was moving office supplies from one closet to another on tuesday.

but friday was a better day.

i'm working in the resettlement department thursdays and fridays. thursday was lots of orientation and busy office work. on friday, though, most of the morning was taken up with the weekly staff meeting followed by a bit of filing. after taking a long lunch at the original cheers bar on beacon street (my farewell luncheon to lindsay and meg, who i really enjoyed having in town, and who i already miss), i returned to the office to have my supervisor ask me to help an afghani refugee find pearle vision. she had a coupon for a free pair of eyeglasses and needed help finding the store.

finally, some client contact.

nadia was very nice. she asked me how long i'd been working at the institute, and we talked about mundane topics, like the difference in weather between here and afghanistan/india (i imagine she was probably granted asylum in india and relocated to the states). we walked about six city blocks and found the place, no sweat. i said goodbye, shook her hand, and headed back to the office, entirely satisfied that what i was doing was important, that it mattered.

i returned to the office and started doing some computer work. i was falling asleep (pretty literally) until i remembered that i'd left something in another part of the office. when i returned to get it, i learned that my supervisor had been looking for me. she wanted me to sit in on a new client intake meeting. that's when i met amara and his family.

amara is a small liberian boy who traveled here with his mother from guinea, the first country of asylum. their father has been in boston since 2000 and their finally reunified.

the two of them had arrived on wednesday and had made it to the office by friday. the father helped translate to mandinga so his tired wife would know what this american woman (my supervisor in resettlement) meant when she said "call 911 in the case of an emergency" and "if the smoke alarm is going off in your house, just leave immediately."

and while his mother's eyes were heavy with war and travel, amara's were alive with the curiosity of a typical five-year-old. and he was adorable. while his mother knew the most limited english (she had had zero years of education, something that was explained away by her husband - "it's very hard for a woman to have an education in liberia"), he was able to recite his abc's, and he did in front of us.

after the brief orientation and signing a bunch of forms (initially, amara's mother had signed with an 'x,' but my supervisor asked her just to copy her name over from the printoff on another form... "no more x's," she said), i took the three of them to our food and clothing pantries. they picked out clothes for amara and his mother, a few non-perishable foodstuffs, and some toys for the little boy.

on the way out they thanked my supervisor for her help and shook my hand as well. and for the first time all week i felt like what i was doing really mattered.

i think this is going to be a good summer, if only for those shining moments of connection.