Secondary EAL teacher Sarah Peterson shares her past experiences where her family sponsored refugees from other countries and how it affects who she is, and what she does, even to this day.

What follows is Sarah’s story, in her own words:

My mom and dad sponsored refugees when I was a high school student in Minnesota. These refugees were men, fleeing their countries of Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somalia in the 1980s. They would stay with us and other families from our church for six months to a year. We sponsored probably seven young men over this time. I was kind of like a little sister to them. That really helped me become more personally interested and aware of people from around the world.  These young men needed a home, safety, and kindness. They also needed somebody to show them how to do things like get groceries, figure out the library, the bus system, and how to do their laundry. I guess at the time, I was good enough at, you know, figuring out what kind of actions, motions, and language to use to help them understand me. And so we’d make a good team! 

My mom, Barbara, worked for Lutheran Social Services (LSS) in Washington D.C., which helped house families that were extremely poor and didn’t earn enough to set aside money for a down payment on a home. LSS helped people with the system of getting loans from banks, and my mom would help them move into their own homes. 

I can remember going to homes with her, and she just would cart me along. I was a little elementary-aged kid. I didn’t know what we were doing, and she’d say, ‘Let’s go. We’re gonna help the Williams family move in! We’re going to get this all set.’ And I was like, you know, ‘Great, okay Mom.’ We’d go over there, they’d be like, ‘Hey, there’s Barbara!’ She knew all these people, and she was immediately warm and hilarious, and they responded the same way to her. I saw in her the value of being that way with people and helping them, you know. Her work was part of a process that helped them have a home, a place they could call their own.  

Also, I saw the importance of helping people get something they really needed. 

Secondary EAL teacher Sarah Peterson. (Photo by Peleg S.)

Learning from my mom and the experience of sponsoring refugees helped me see that anyone could really make things better for someone else just by being there for them and showing kindness. Like teaching Roba—who was one of the young men who stayed with us—I showed him how to make peanut butter sandwiches and helped him with really only some of the basic things; he wrote the most beautiful note later on, after moving out and mailed it to me. I still have this letter today. He shared such heartwarming words about the kind things I did that helped in these small ways. He wrote that I reminded him of his sister back home. It was very moving for me.  

So I think things like that cemented in my head, in my heart, the importance of being there for people in really simple, kind, and thoughtful ways. I became a teacher and was eager to continue to understand more about kids and their challenges. I’m sure my background influenced my decision to support language learners and people that are trying to figure out a different culture and all the challenges that go along with that. It’s been beyond rewarding. I feel that I’m lucky, you know, sincerely lucky to be able to step into and be a part of that experience, to try and help people going over those bridges.