25 of November, 2009

 

            Dear Bienestar,

 

I recently received a Bienestar donation form and a letter detailing the experience of Elsa

 and those of many other Oregon farmworker families. I was very touched by the letter,

and decided to write one of my own. I chose to support Bienestar over other programs

this holiday season because I am a former Bienestar volunteer, and I know that the need

is great for the support of Bienestar's valuable programs.

 

It has been over a year and a half since I volunteered for a couple of months in Bienestar's

after-school reading and homework program at the apartments in Hillsboro. However, I

have not forgotten the children nor the eye-opening experience. I chose to volunteer in

the program because I was in the process of obtaining my bachelor's degree in Spanish at

Pacific University, and I felt that there would be much opportunity to utilize my bilingual

skills. I had previously taught beginning-level English classes to native spanish-speakers

at the Centro Cultural in Hillsboro. I am grateful for the experience because I learned just

as much, or perhaps more, than I was able to teach. I realized the growing need for

additional social services in the Spanish language, and programs for people who do not

have the required documents to obtain the existing services. My teaching at Centro

Cultural and the content of my courses at Pacific University led me to participate in other

volunteer opportunities with low-income and/or undocumented latino immigrant families

in Washington County. I tutored women in a literature class in the Adelante Mujeres

program, as well as provided tours in Spanish of the Pacific University campus.

 

Bienestar was one of the last opportunities I participated in before graduating, and I

particularly enjoyed it because I was working with children. When the children in the

program first began to sit and read with me, it saddened me to see that many of them

were struggling so much. There were children in the fifth grade who were reading at a

second or third grade reading level and there were children who could not yet read in

English at all. I knew then that this was a much-needed program. These children were

coming from families where the parents either did not speak English very well and/or

were not very literate themselves.

 

During my last two years at Pacific University, I conducted a thesis research project that

closely examined difficulties encountered by undocumented latino families involved in

some form of the immigrant or migratory process, whether they were families living in

the United States, or loved ones left behind in the country of origin. I narrowed my focus

to interviews and research of Michoacano families in Washington County, and of their

family members in Michoacan, Mexico. After having spent much time in both

Washington County, and in different parts of Michoacan with these families, I was really

able to witness their day-to-day struggles, and as a result, I developed a deep empathy for

these individuals, a better understanding of their cultures, and a greater appreciation for

life's small comforts.

 

Although I have graduated and moved out of Oregon state, I would still like to be

supportive of all of Bienestar's wonderful programs. I have enclosed a donation of

$50.00. Thank you Bienestar for providing these services, and thank you for having

allowed me the opportunity for an educational and life-enriching cross-cultural

experience.

 

Sincerely,

 

Nicole Thunem