AUG 25 2022
Tuka and Paccy, two incredible community members who have worked with Canopy in various capacities, mainly with our Youth Programs, shared a bit about their stories and what brought them to their roles on the Canopy team. The two also spoke about how their friendship was built after spending time together supporting our youngest neighbors. Read below as they share their individual stories, the beautiful ways they support each-other, and how they each have played important roles in supporting Canopy youth.
Tuka
“I came here to America like a month ago, so I am a Syrian refugee. At first, I was 30 Syrian refugee but now I feel more like part of this community, even if I am not a citizen yet. But because I am working and have found friends. I feel very comfortable to be here. I came here with my mom, my brother and his wife, and their two children. And we all live in the same house.” She joked about hectic mornings in their full house, saying, “especially because there’s just one bathroom”.
“So, when I came here the Canopy office was responsible [for] us. They supported us knowing [we were] new here and [didn’t] know a lot of information about the place.”
“[In the beginning,] you really need someone to help you, to support you, and to direct you.”
“I like to help people. And I like to help refugees because I can feel what they feel now. Whenever I meet the new Syrian refugees, I feel like I am responsible for them. Even if I just came before them, [just] two or three months. I feel like [now] I know more than they know [about this new place they are living] and I will help as much as I can.”
“I am so happy that I am working with Canopy now. The reason why I am working here is because my nephew and niece wanted to go to the school and [Canopy helped them]. When I asked Danielle (Canopy’s Youth Services Coordinator) about what she does, she told me [about] the program. I adore kids, so I asked her if I could work with her. And she told me that there is an opportunity to be a volunteer, so I applied. And now, I am here and I am really thankful for that. [At first,] I thought to work here in this office it would take many many years – it took a few months. And I have to look into continuing to work here because I really enjoy working with the kids- its my dream job.”
Tuka studied English on her own, and her language skills have greatly helped her family as they have transitioned to NWA. “I learned English by myself. I learned that by doing courses online…and watching movies, reading books, and watching videos on YouTube. And that’s really helped us. And let me tell you something – when I came here, I thought I knew English, but not this much. When I started speaking with the others I was just like, oh my gosh, [I] know more than more than I thought. Wow. Oh, my gosh. Though I find some topics are [still] difficult for me, [especially] when a new person I meet doesn’t know that my English is still weak, so he speaks very fast.”
Paccy
“My name is Paccy. It is pronounced “passie”, but sometimes people [incorrectly] say “packy”. It’s short for Pascasie and it is a French name.”
“I am from Rwanda. I came [to the US] after my husband petitioned for me after he came in 2016. For three years, I was in Rwanda and he was here. When I got my visa, I came to Arkansas because that’s where he was living – I really like this community in Fayetteville. I tried to move to Ohio, but I didnt like Ohio.”
“I don’t know much about other cities, but people here are very friendly, so I like to live in this community.”
“When I came in 2019, my husband was working with Canopy as interpreter. At that time, I started to meet Canopy clients who were happy because we spoke the same language. They [would say] things like ‘can you just come to my class?!’ and they thought that because my husband speaks a lot of English ‘you must speak it too, so you’re gonna help.’ I told them I would try my best, but I didn’t speak a lot of English, because I learned English from social media.”
“In my country, in 2009, they switched the schools from French to English. I was in high school. That was not fun a fun time. It was really difficult. The teacher would teach us biology in English, and then in the afternoon, she went to take an English course. We didn’t learn much English in school because our teachers were learning English [at the same time]. It was really had for us, learning subjects in a new language.”
“When I came here, I [spoke] British English more than American English. I remember one time, Lyna asked me to do interpretation and I said ‘no, its so hard!’. I really thank her for the encouragement, she just told me, ‘you know English and I just need you to be my interpreter’ [even though] I will tell you, I didn’t go back. But time passed, and then Ariana asked me, ‘could you be an interpreter for me?’ and that time I decided to do it.”
“I remember my first client at the airport, I did interpretation and was like ‘this amazing!’”
“To be honest, sometimes I’m shy. It’s so hard for me to join [a group of] people. But that’s how I started working with Canopy and have gotten very familiar with Canopy clients. I went to interpret for clients [when they arrive in] America, I also did home visits and job interviews. I love working with Canopy because they encouraged me to feel comfortable speaking and being in the community.”
“2021 was my first time working in the Youth program. I was a teacher in after school programs. Because I had a full time job, I just would just volunteer one day a week. At that time we had just 12 kids, but now we have more than 49! We try our best to help [each] them so that they can feel comfortable in the community.”
“Being a teacher is really good for me because I really love kids. I love playing with kids and loves seeing kids playing. When they see the kids are not happy, I always feel like I need to do something so that they can feel comfortable in the community.”
“And she’s doing a great job!” Tuka added. The pair spoke highly of each other and the work the other did throughout the interview, pointing out all the ways they each support their own communities.
“I learn from them, and they learned from me.” Paccy said of the youth. “I remember my first time I went, I had 12 kids. 10 of them were speaking Swahili and Kinyarwanda, and I speak these languages. I was very comfortable with them, but [then] we received kids from Tuka’s family and I was like ‘what can I say to these kids? I need them to be happy. I need them to feel comfortable in the group, but it’s also hard [because of a language barrier].”
“Since January this year, I have been working with the Fayetteville district with all ages from kindergarten to high school, 16 schools, whenever a teacher needs me to translate documents for school to the parent in Kinyarwanda or Swahili.”
Canopy’s Summer Program
“Danielle has a great program and so many plans for our students. She took the students all over the place so that they can be familiar with the community and so they can meet each other and make friends. Most of them have been [not been here even] one year so they are still learning a lot of the things, learning language, culture, and they are in a difficult time, but we try our best to make it easy.” Paccy continued, “I really [believe] that they have nice future. Most of them are still struggling with language, but they are working hard. And they said that then they will never give up. For younger students it is easier learning a language, but for the high school or junior high school students it is so hard. Imagine sitting in a ninth grade class not knowing what the teachers are saying – you want to fit in, you want to graduate. They are working hard, but they need support.”
Paccy recently began a new position as Canopy’s Healthy Start Coordinator, working with women in our community, especially pregnant women, supporting them and their families. “I like helping people, I like working with kids, I am so excited to be working with babies!”
“I am really proud of her, she really helps her community.” Tuka said of Paccy. “I am really happy to have a friend now – she is not just a co-worker, she is a friend.”
“I would really like to thank our Co-Sponsors.” Tuka added. “They did a great job, they helped us a lot, they made us feel really comfortable living here. One sponsor who knows that I love kids helped me to apply for a position with kids at Canopy. I got involved with the after school program with Danielle – the first day I spent time with the kids, Danielle sent me a message saying I did a great job and gave me the opportunity to join her team to help with the summer program.”
“When [the kids] play together they learn more than they can in school – like we have kids from Afghanistan, Rwanda, Syria… and everyone has their own [personality]. I love to see the kids help and support each other, they don’t care if they are [from the same place] or if they speak the same language, they have their ways to communicate and play. They learn from each other.”
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