Urban Tutoring / First Day

So, clearly this post is going to be about my first night of tutoring. And, being the word vomitter that I am, I feel the need to indulge in background information.

The program I am tutoring with is called Whiz Kids, and it's one of many awesome aspects of Des Moines' own Freedom for Youth Ministries. I first heard of this organization from one of my Bible Study leaders a couple of weeks ago, but trust me -- this place is something you have to SEE to appreciate. (So go see, locals!) My Bible study group went there to prepare and serve dinner to the teen boy group last Tuesday. That experience was fun, and while I got to talk to a few of the kids and volunteers, I mostly bonded with my fellow study groupers. We did get to take a tour and see the campus, though. And afterwards one of the directors gave us some leaflets just to give us more tangible info. I opened up the pamphlet and saw they had a tutoring program. And I knew, at that moment, that I had to get involved.

I've been looking for an organization to tutor with for a while now. It's harder than you'd think, unfortunately. I even signed up for and started the preliminary process to tutor with another local organization... but mysteriously have yet to hear back from them...
Anyway, I told the director how I was interested in getting involved and she gave me the name and number of who to call. I called the next day and spoke with the woman in charge of the Whiz Kids program... and she was fantastic. And told me they had one girl left on the waiting list. And at THAT moment I definitely knew I had to do this.

And I was terrified. I do love helping others... but my modus operandi is spontaneity. I see a need and meet it, move on to the next one. Because, you see, when you are a spontaneous volunteer, you're still allowed to be selfish. Because you can be selective. Because you aren't really committed. I absolutely agree that we should be an ever present state of awareness when it comes to our surroundings; we should actively look for needs that we can meet and then follow through. But when we take that next step, to finding a cause, finding a permanent need, and committing to it; that's a whole 'nother world.

Yesterday I woke up, packed my stuff in my brother's car (after about half a pot of coffee, which really, should go without saying.) I then sat cramped in my brother's Ford Focus (we brought home a weight set circa 1970 with us) for the next 5 hours or so. I'd slept on a broken futon at my dad's for 3 nights, I was tired and achey. The coordinator at FfY knew I might not be able to make it. The entire trip home I was torn between going to the tutoring night or not. But in the back of my mind... I knew I would go. Tired or not. Achey or not. Sneezing or not. It was the right thing to do.

As I pulled into FfY, I entertained a group of kids as I tried to squeeze into a parking place. As I walk in and catch the coordinator's eye, she's telling that same group of kids - and one girl in particular - that the new tutor was here. They all laughed good naturedly, telling her how they saw me in the parking lot. And then slightly more formal introductions were made, and a basic lay out of what the evening would entail.

We sit. We talk. We put together what we agree is the easiest Bob the Builder puzzle ever made, and obviously we are both too old for it anyway. (She's 11.) She stands close to me like I'm already her family while we go through the dinner line. I mention how I'll not be eating my share of mac 'n cheese as I'm lactose intolerant. She says she can't eat it either. (True? Too soon to tell!) :)

Kids Bible lesson time; I chat with another tutor. Kids game time; I laugh and cheer them on. Breakaway for study time; Myself, my tutee, her younger sister, and her sister's tutor all head to the art building to decorate our folders and do some 'get to know you' worksheets.

My tutee speaks three languages; French, Swahili, and English. She likes math the best. She likes to read and draw. She likes Family Guy and dolphins. She moved to America when she was 6. She lives in an apartment with her 3 siblings, 2 cousins, Uncle, and Aunt. We're going to work on spelling and reading. I suspect she's eager for approval.
She never wants to go back to Tanzania, and is baffled that I'd ask. "That's where you get killed. That's where you get killed if you go back or leave or stay. The men with their big guns...no," she matter-of-factly says in her beautiful accent.

All too soon it's 7pm; time to go home. Her sister and she join up with the group they walked over with to walk home. They point out my red car to me as we exit the building. They smile and wave. Smile and wave again. As I'm waiting to turn my car onto MLK to start the drive home, the group is in the parking lot across the street standing; watching; smiling; waving.

Tutoring at Freedom for Youth is the right thing to do.