School On Wheels

Catholic Charities program teaches women basic survival English

 

Immokalee—School on Wheels of Catholic Charities is an English as a second language program that is held in the homes of migrant or other disadvantaged women. The women cannot go anywhere else to learn English because they have small children and/or lack transportation. The need for these women to speak English is essential to their survival.

 

Once a week, female volunteer tutors teach needy women basic, survival English during 90-minute sessions. These lessons empower students to take better care of their families, gain employment, talk to teachers or doctors--to become more self-sufficient. The program currently has a waiting list of students because volunteer tutors are needed.

 

“We provide the female volunteers training and support, and a tutor does not need to speak Spanish,” said Helen Heffington, School on Wheels education director. “The bad news is we don’t have enough tutors to go around, but the good news is we have connected with the women in the community who really need School on Wheels,” she said.

 

“I came here from Guatemala not knowing any English at the age of seven,” said Tamara Shanaman, a volunteer tutor for School on Wheels. “My life was most impacted by the people who comforted me in the fact that I would eventually learn to speak English. They gave me the gift of confidence I did not have and the determination to learn the language. Now, 19 years later, I know that there are many women in my position who I can help by giving them that same confidence and determination.”

 

Shanaman’s father has taught English as a second language to immigrants for the past several years. “I have seen the gift of language as one of the greatest because of my father’s contributions to the Hispanic community. I am proud to join him, if only in a small way, in reaching those who are in the same position we once were in,” Shanaman said.

 

Heffington recalled a student named Carmen that had a child that needed to be hospitalized. “Carmen’s child had to translate for her to the doctors,” she said. “Because School on Wheels can be individualized, we focused on learning to communicate with the doctors and how to take the bus to the hospital to visit her child.”

 

Another student was hoping to get a job as a janitor. “We worked on the words she needed to do that job so she was better prepared,” Heffington said. “The one-on-one relationship between tutor and student makes the lesson unique and often evolves into a friendship.”

 

The goal of the program, Heffington said, is to empower women and give them confidence so they can lead better lives.

 

For more information or to volunteer for the School on Wheels Program, please call Helen Heffington at Guadalupe Social Services of Catholic Charities at 239-657-6242.

 

Photo: A School On Wheels of Catholic Charities volunteer teaches a client and her children basic survival English.