I sat with a woman from Somalia in her small apartment living room in Nashville. She was one of our older students who had grown up and spent most of her life in a refugee camp in Kenya. She had never been to school, never learned to read in her own language. This woman was [...]
Good morning! Welcome! How are you? It’s so good to see you again! These are the things I repeat over and over again the first week of English classes. I love the first week! I love seeing our returning students after the summer break. I love seeing their smiles and excitement to be back in [...]
Our women’s English classes have been running for over 10 years now! It’s been beautiful to see our student body grow from just a handful in 2013 to having served 114 women in the past school year (and nearly 70 preschool aged children as well!). We ran a book drive last year and have been [...]
Between Iraq and a Hard Place: Episode 60 Hannah and Colleen interview our friend and teammate, Erik, about his life and experiences teaching and living in Iraq as well as his studies of Kurdish history and culture. Learn more over on our Iraq page! And send us questions and comments to Hannah@servantgroup.org. Here's a link [...]
Why Good Teachers Matter in Iraq When you were in high school you were probably pretty concerned with your GPA or at least your grades in specific subjects that you were hoping to pursue in college. Maybe you got into your first choice university, or maybe you had to settle for something a little less [...]
It's Time to Go to the Movies! Hannah and Colleen take a trip around the world and into a Middle Eastern movie theater. Sometimes watching movies in Iraq is like a short visit to the United States, but other times it's more like visiting a different country... or a different planet where the spoken language [...]
Kim Tells the Best Stories! Hannah and Colleen chat with Kim, our Office Manager, about her time living in Iraq. We love her stories and she is an excellent story teller! Sometimes in the office we ask her tell the same ones we've heard before because they are just so funny. Here are a few [...]
Sometimes I am astounded at my kids. This week has been… I struggle to find a sufficient adjective to describe the strange combination of blessings and struggles. One boy brought me a little charm of the American Flag. A girl brought me a necklace that she made herself out of little gold colored glass beads [...]
Some exciting news, - we’re getting ready to expand and renovate our downstairs office into a refugee ministry center! For a long time, we’ve wanted to have a place where our volunteers and refugees can meet together for programs and activities like sewing, exercise, job training and more. A little more info about [...]
Kurdish Language Adventures Hannah and Colleen bring along the amazing and talented Steve, who has been learning and speaking Kurdish for many many years. He shares with us about the history of Kurdish, the various dialects/languages that are part of Kurdish, and some of his own experiences speaking the language. https://youtu.be/OVZvFFrqgY8 Join us in Nashville [...]
