With two maps of the USA, a flag within the nook and photographs of previous U.S. presidents pinned to a foldout whiteboard, an workplace at Overcomers Refugee Companies resembles that of a highschool historical past classroom. As a substitute of highschool youngsters, Eileen Kane – outfitted with a 3 ring binder of spelling phrases, dates and questions – teaches New Individuals, who finding out for his or her citizenship take a look at.
Because the inhabitants of New Individuals continues to develop within the Harmony space, residents like Kayitani Ndutiye, who moved to New Hampshire from the Congo in 2012, are wanting to cement the USA as their new dwelling. Usually, the 100 query naturalization take a look at, with questions of historical past and geography, stand of their means.
To not point out that for many of those immigrants, English just isn’t their first language. But, there are not any formal citizenship courses within the space with paid, full-time employees members, which leaves the job as much as volunteer lecturers who put on a number of hats in pursuit of serving to New Individuals move the take a look at.
From kindergarten to Grade 12, college students throughout New Hampshire begin faculty with their A,B,C’s and sometimes take a United States historical past course in highschool – stuffed with particulars about our three branches of presidency, the Invoice of Rights, historic elections and pivotal durations for the nation.
It’s exhausting to condense what a scholar would possibly be taught in over a decade of faculty in these historical past courses, not to mention fundamental studying and spelling expertise, into just some months.
However throughout 13 lesson plans, that’s what Kane does for her citizenship college students.
If a scholar is proficient in English, they’re placed on observe to do a lesson per week to move the take a look at. Usually, it’s two or three weeks per lesson – with English classes sprinkled into explanations of colonialism and the Federalist Papers.
When Ndutiye first started working with Kane in August, every lesson began with a evaluation of the fundamentals.
“Have you learnt the best way to spell United States?” she’d ask, elongating the sound of every letter to piece collectively U-N-I-T-E-D.
Now, he’s on the eighth installment of Kane’s lesson plans. He’s fast to reply who the governor of New Hampshire is (Chris Sununu) and is aware of which Founding Father wrote the Declaration of Independence (Thomas Jefferson).
However these intricate lesson plans and centuries of condensed historical past spotlight how advanced the naturalization course of is for aspiring residents, particularly when they’re nonetheless studying English.
“For them to take the take a look at, 100 questions on civics. These are individuals who by no means went to high school. And America is aware of that each one the people who they carry right here to the U.S. didn’t have an opportunity to go to high school,” mentioned Clement Kigugu, the manager director of Overcomers. “So how will you count on them to be taught English and be capable to reply to 100 questions?”
To not point out that some questions, like “Who’s the Speaker of the Home?” have already got new solutions. Neglect the truth that Ndutiye simply discovered a few lady named Nancy Pelosi. Now, he’ll need to reply Kevin McCarthy.
Previously decade, Ndutiye has already taken the citizenship take a look at twice.
Now with Kane’s assist, he has flash playing cards and lesson plans – and a weekly dedication to working towards his English and simulating questions that is likely to be on the take a look at. However with no formal citizenship class for New Individuals within the space, apart from the dedication of volunteers like Kane, many of those sources aren’t obtainable to everybody who wants them.
From 2010 to 2021, there have been 1,187 New Individuals who settled in Harmony, greater than anyplace else within the state, in accordance with the N.H. Division of Well being and Human Companies.
With the assistance of Ascentria Care Alliance, a resettlement company within the space, 1000’s people have relocated to New Hampshire since 1997. The company locations New Individuals in Harmony, Laconia and Nashua, providing employment and housing help, English courses and one-on-one assist from volunteers.
The Overcomers Refugee Companies, a Harmony nonprofit, additionally has an identical mission – to assist New Individuals as they construct a life in New Hampshire.
When many New Individuals arrive in New Hampshire, they wish to make a everlasting dwelling for themselves, mentioned Kigugu. He needed to do the identical factor when he got here to the USA from Rwanda in 2006.
For a lot of, changing into citizen is a monumental course of – one by which they develop into legally accepted by their new dwelling, but additionally granted rights that few New Individuals had prior, particularly if their path to the USA concerned refugee camps or war-torn international locations. After 5 years, these over the age of 18 can apply for the naturalization course of.
But when looking for a citizenship preparation class close to Harmony on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Companies web site, the closest result’s the Better Lawrence Neighborhood Motion Council, Inc., 40 miles away, in Massachusetts.
To Kigugu’s data, within the Harmony-area there is no such thing as a full-time program that helps citizenship class preparation with paid staff. As a substitute, New Individuals are depending on the assistance of volunteers, who run these courses on their very own schedule.
When a New American contacts Overcomers about finding out for the naturalization take a look at, Kigugu tries to match them with a volunteer trainer. However typically various ranges of English imply these courses work higher one on one – and require piecing collectively a scheduling puzzle of availability in opposition to work hours and childcare tasks.
“The exhausting half is, now we have to match them. So typically the volunteer has time throughout the day when the consumer works,” he mentioned.
Kane, who’s a retired occupational therapist, just lately started volunteering with take a look at preparation courses. To determine the place to start out with the take a look at, she purchased workbooks, finding out them to resolve how she would manage the fabric herself.
“I appeared via them and mentioned ‘how do they educate? What do they educate?’ after which I made my very own classes,” she mentioned. “I began from scratch.”
When Ndutiye first started finding out with Kane at Overcomers, he hoped he and his spouse might put together for the naturalization take a look at collectively. On day one, they sat collectively within the workplace as Kane defined why the flag had 13 stripes and 50 stars, asking them to repeat what every of those numbers symbolized.
Whereas Kane might assist fill within the gaps for Ndutiye by translating phrases to Swahili to be taught the fabric, his spouse wanted to start out with fundamental English courses.
This meant Ndutiye has studied one-on-one with Kane most weeks over the previous couple of months.
As he waits for his naturalization take a look at, Adam Hassan, who’s from Sudan however arrived in New Hampshire by the use of Egypt, has joined in on Ndutiye’s classes. Hassan will evaluation whereas Ndutiye works via the lesson plans. One after the opposite, they’ll take turns answering Kane’s revolving questions – Identify one factor Martin Luther King Jr. is known for (the Civil Rights Motion); What warfare was Eisenhower a basic in (World Conflict II); What number of Amendments are there within the U.S. Structure (27).
If Overcomers had an worker liable for take a look at preparation, Kigugu envisions that particular person working each a morning and night shift, round different work schedules. Or the group would supply Saturday courses for extra flexibility.
“If we had a paid individual, the individual might be obtainable all week and canopy the wants of everybody,” he mentioned.
However for now he’s solely capable of assist the variety of folks Kane can tackle in her schedule. If somebody passes, or has to cancel, that’s a brand new spot for an additional scholar. Nonetheless, demand exceeds what Overcomers is ready to at the moment accommodate.
When the courses produce a profitable consequence and a scholar turns into a citizen, it’s a second to rejoice for everybody concerned.
Kigugu remembers in 2016, he accompanied an aged man who just lately earned his citizenship to vote within the Presidential election. The emotion, of watching this man vote for the primary time was emblematic of a bigger message past candidates on a poll.
“Now I belong to this nation. Now I’m a citizen of a rustic, after being in a refugee camp fro 20 years, with out having the appropriate to vote,” mentioned Kigugu.
