Boston Program Offers English as a Second Chance

On a Wednesday night in Chelsea, two Harvard students sit in a classroom together with two women. They are reading stories together, surrounded by blackboards, maps and textbooks.

The scene might be repeated a hundred times a day in Harvard seminars or tutorials, but here it is performed with one important difference. On this night at a vocational placement center for non-English speaking immigrants, the students have become teachers and the adults students--and the struggle for learning in which they are engaged seeks a final goal of sometihing closer to achieving diginty than straight As.

Under the auspices of the Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA) Project Literacy, Harvard students in Chelsea and others in South Boston prepare area adults in basic language and math skills in one area and for high school and college equialency exams in another. The goals and shortcomings of the programs vary, but their purposes are the same: to help people return to school without shame and gain control over lives which have run upon hard times.

"These women are actively reaching out for help," says Theresa A. Finn '89, who heads the South Boston Outreach Tutoring Program for women aiming to earn a high school Graduate Equivalency Degree (GED). "And when there's individualized attention, we can really help them out with their problems."

Though the numbers vary, approximately 10 undergraduates since October have traveled to the South Boston Boys' and Girls' Club twice a week, teaching women 20 to 40-years-old academic skills. They work within a broader program that offers family planning classes, speakers on health issues, field trips and other activities. The projects aim to provide the women, who are frequently single mothers, a practical break from an often monotonous routine.

"We know what's necessary for the GED, but we also build a strong relationship with the students," says Finn. "That's something these women probably haven't ever had before, including in their past GED classes."

Finn should be in a position to know. A South Boston native, or "Southie" as she puts it, Finn says, "Throughout my four years at school I've seen the Harvard community not truly understand South Boston. It's a very tight-knit community--people pull for each other--and that can have advantages and disadvantages. Either way, I just wish more Harvard people could see what it's really like."

An area that has suffered from stereotypes of tough neighborhoods and inner city problems, South Boston does face real difficulties. In the Outreach program, "the women are mostly single parents from their 20s to 40s, usually with kids, and from disadvantaged backgrounds," says Finn. "Like in a lot of urban areas, they're trapped in a cycle of poverty. Sometimes they've had alcohol or drug problems themselves or in their family; some have dropped out of Boston schools, which often fail to meet their needs...Life just hasn't dealt them a good situation."

"The program brought me out of my shell," says Rita Urban, a mother of six. "Before this I was a sit-at-home housewife with an eighth grade education. It's great to be able to get a break and meet other people. When you're stuck in the house, your friends all seem to be gone."

For Patti Duquette, a single mother with four sons from ages two to seven, the Outreach program was the only means of both going to school and taking care of her children.

Duquette worked with Harvard tutors for four weeks before taking the GED exam, which she then passed; she now hopes to attend Bunker Hill Community College.

The effectiveness of the South Boston program stems largely from the focused attention provided for each of its students, Finn says.

"Working one-on-one was great," says Duquette. "They [the student tutors] were really patient, and they went at our own pace. It wasn't what they wanted to get done but what we wanted done.

"It's also nice to have adults to talk to after being in the house with the kids all the time," she adds.

Fighting Different Battles in Chelsea

For the volunteers in Chelsea, the battle is a different one. Instead of working for degrees and exams, teachers devote their time to helping immigrants secure a living.

"We do the best we can to give the students a basic foundation," says English as a Second Language Coordinator Donald E. Green, a permanent worker with Employment Connections Inc. (ECI). "Getting them to a job has got to be the first priority, though the classes can be continued afterwards. We're not having them stay here and study, study, study."

Harvard students help recent immigrants from Latin America and Southeast Asia to gain a working knowledge of English, enough to get skilled employment.

"ECI is kind of the frontline for tutoring once the students come to the country," says Project Literacy Co-Chair and tutor Aaron Richmond '91. "There's just a huge group clamoring to get in, learn what they need and then move on. The practical reality is that they at least need the minimum training; it's sad that we can't keep them longer."

One of PBHA's Project Literacy's longest running programs, the ECI group was started in 1986, says founder and co-chair Mary Ellen Ronayne '89. The urgency of the need for the program is shown by the new immigrants' shaky command of English.

"I want to speak English," says Hoeun Ou, who came to the United States from Cambodia in late 1985, "because in America they need to. I need to speak for a job."

ECI classes also discuss such practical topics as housing, hospitals and banking.

ECI students' commitment is anything but minimal: classes are four nights a week, two hours each night. The intensive method requires the students to miss as few days as possible, a difficult task given the inconsistent nature of their daily schedules.

"There is so much instability in their lives," says Ronayne. "It's a lot to ask of Harvard students to volunteer their time each week, but it's much more to ask of these adults."

Tutors also must help their pupils adapt to new perceptions of the United States.

"Some of the younger students from Cambodia have never gone to school," says Green. "Their schools were taken away, their teachers massacred; and they were sent to work." Green adds that while these experiences have not dampened the students' enthusiasm, they have often left them with little self-confidence in educational settings.

Even when tangible academic goals prove out of reach, however, the confidence and self-esteem gained from the classes often proves as rewarding as the classwork.

Finn recalls one instance of success in her work with the South Boston women.

"I had one woman studying for a college level course whose son chose her for an essay on someone he was proud of," she says. "She's only taking one course, but her son wrote, 'My mom's going to college' and saw it as courageous, inspiring. The difference something like that can make is just indescribable."