Iftin

The ladies of our ESL classes and women's self-help group have given themselves a name -- Iftin. It is one of several Somali words for "light". The women have chosen it out of a desire to be light for their community.

Presently, we are holding three classes each weekday morning from 9 am to 12:30 pm. The women have shown a dramatic improvement not only with their English, but in their attitudes toward each other and with us. We see English as a critical foundation for the women to improve their lives and the lives of their families. And yet, we see this teaching component as only the entry point of a much more integrated approach to serving the refugee community living within Eastleigh. Along with the classroom learning, we are involved in household visits with our friend Zahra: together we are building deeper relationships and working with the women to assess and mobilize the community to find sustainable ways of overcoming extreme poverty. Through cooperative learning, the ESL classes are strengthening group dynamics among the women and preparing them for future opportunities of working together in community awareness projects, micro-enterprise development and community advocacy. It is an exciting time to be serving with such an inspiring group of women.

Zahra and Aaron with some of the women from our 10 am ESL class.

On September 8th, the ladies of Iftin will be representing the Eastleigh Community Centre at an International Literacy Celebration in Nairobi. They have organized themselves into a choir and two of the women, Bisharo Ilmi and Jamilo Moxamed Yasin, have composed three songs which the choir will preform in a national choral competition that day. We wanted to share with you one of the songs written about our class:

Iftin (Light)

written by Jamilo Moxamed Yasin

(ESL student)

Arday baan ahayoo
We are students
Ubixii wadankaan ahayoo
We are the flowers of the country
Waxan uordayaa uordayaa
We are running running
Iftin uaadnaa
going to Iftin (the light)
Inaan aqoonkarar sadoo
to add knowledge (experience)
Dalkena anfacee
and be useful for the country
Dadaak kii lanimidee
I came here to work hard
alahayow noo gargaar
God may you help us.
aamiin aamiin aamiin
Amen Amen Amen

Erica and Zahra preparing for a new day of

classes with the women of Iftin.

We want to thank the many volunteers who have been helping us in renovating both this classroom and primary classrooms earlier this year -- We could not have done it all without you!!!!! In our ESL room alone, it took many hands to tear out the old rotten ceiling (thank you Andai, Ryan and Jason), construct a new ceiling on very crooked trusses (thank you Andai), and then there was the scrubbing and painting (thank you so much Jean Enns for all your help!). We also owe a BIG THANKS to the White Rock Team who provided the paint for the project.

Yesterday was the first day that the ladies were able to see the newly finished green room, and they love it. We are planning a class party for this Friday to celebrate together!