Family Story Time: Helping Refugee Children Listen and Write Their Family Stories – By Katie Andrews Potter

Family Story Time

“Through an amazing organization called Migros Aid Indy, our family spends a lot of time with refugees from all over the world. Every week we go to “English club” and hang out with kids while their parents attend an English class. We eat, we sing, and we learn from each other. It’s a beautiful gathering of people from all walks of life.

Many of the kids are active, playing on the playground or playing soccer, but there are a few that love to draw and write, and I am generally found with these kids (because I love to draw and write, too, of course!). So, I decided to introduce this activity to these kids this week.

The products of their work were as diverse as they are. There was a girl who recently arrived from Syria who is learning to write English letters and words, so she intently copied the words on the page, and then drew a beautiful picture. There were two young ladies, one from the Congo and one from Tanzania that wrote stories about themselves – one of them in her own language, and they also drew pictures. My daughter and I also wrote and drew our own as examples. It was an amazing experience, and now I am inspired to create activities in Spanish, French, and Arabic, with simple English instructions that would accommodate these young people so they will be able to express themselves further.

Children always have amazing stories to tell. I always say that children should consider themselves and their stories when learning their family history, because after all, they are a very important part of it.