Brady and Houng
In high school and college, I often excused myself from service opportunities by claiming that I was “too busy” or “had other plans for the day”. Selfishly, I only wanted to partake in a mission trip or act of service if it benefited me in some way or another. When I moved across the country to the great state of Texas, I found that those excuses no longer held up. I had nothing but time on my hands and decided that I needed to find somewhere to volunteer on a regular basis. I prayed that I would find the right fit and God led me straight to Refugee Resources, a nonprofit based in Vickery Meadow that focuses on improving literacy for refugee children through one-on-one mentoring.
The first few times that I walked through the doors of Refugee Resources I felt very out of place. How could I possibly be qualified to teach English? What if I said the wrong thing or didn’t know how to explain something properly? I feared that I was under-qualified, inadequate, or just simply not a good enough person to be pouring into someone else’s life, especially a child’s. Thankfully, these fears were erased as soon as I met my reading buddy, Houng.
Houng is 7 years old, likes to play outside with his friends, and has already decided that he want to go to Texas A&M when he gets older. He reminds me just about every week. Houng had been coming to Reading Circle long before I started volunteering, so I encouraged him to take the lead the first few weeks and show me the ropes. He walked me through each type of reading activity and I could see right away that he was an extremely bright kid, much smarter than I was at his age. Houng and I have learned that we actually have quite a bit in common. We’ve swapped stories about our younger brothers, bonded over our mutual love of music, and we both love to be outside.
I’ve been reading with Houng for about four months now and I know this will sound painfully cliche, but it needs to be said: I have learned so much more from Houng than I could ever teach him. He has taught me to be more curious, set bigger goals for myself, and continues to show me that a little bit of confidence can go a long way. My fears of inadequacy have been replaced with an overwhelming sense of joy when I turn onto Holly Hill Drive. Each week, I am so excited to see Houng and hear about what’s going on in his life. I look forward to seeing what challenges he overcomes during our session together. In fact, this week he pronounced “nautilus” correctly on the first try and I am still so proud!
As important as the pronunciation of words like “nautilus” may be, Refugee Resources is focused on so much more than that. By providing each child with the literacy tools that they need to succeed, Refugee Resources empowers more than just the individual student. Refugee Resources works to empower the whole family, the community surrounding our students, by showing them love and support in any way that we can. Through prayer and personal connection, we are providing a positive example for these kids while showing them what it means to love one another as God loves each and every one of us. I am immensely proud to be a part of this ministry and I can’t wait to see all of the great things that my favorite Burmese second grader goes on to do.
Brady Corns