A Place of Welcome: Bridging Communities and Cultures
BVMs Kathy Conway (l.), and Mary Martens enjoy working with a student at the Presentation Lantern Center in Dubuque, Iowa.
by BVMs Kathy Conway and Mary Martens
Adult immigrants and refugees who settle in Dubuque, Iowa, find “A Place of Welcome” in the Presentation Lantern Center. It is also a place of education, advocacy, and friendship. Since 2002, some 1,700 students from 85 countries have been helped by one-on-one volunteer tutors as they learned or improved English or as they prepared for the U.S. citizenship exam. In the 21 years of the Center’s existence, 120 people have become U.S. citizens.
Dedicated Tutors
Among the Lantern tutors in 2023–24 are BVMs Kathleen “Kathy” (Richard Marie) Conway and Mary (Loras) Martens. Kathy, with her fluent Spanish learned in Ecuador, had taught a small ESL class for Catholic Charities in a Chicago suburb. Mary tutored at the Lantern until the COVID lockdown, earning the Center’s Outstanding Service Award in 2016.
Kathy and Mary were paired with a married couple from Ukraine. Their teen daughter attended Wahlert Catholic High school in Dubuque. The parents chose to attend the Lantern weekly for a two-hour session. Because they worked a 40-hour nightshift during the week, they were with their daughter at home only on weekends. So Kathy’s student changed her work hours for her daughter’s sake.
Unique Challenges
Both Kathy and Mary understand the balancing act necessary on the part of immigrants who have family responsibilities, who need to work, and who want to learn the language.
A typical two-hour class period at the Lantern begins as tutors and students arrive and greet each other. Each student can advance through six levels of English with the series “Confidence and Connections.” Along with spoken and written English lessons, tutors offer friendship and practical assistance with “belonging,” so that each adult feels respected and valued. Assistance can involve providing suggestions about finding one’s way in a U.S. city and culture to becoming a companion for legal or other appointments.
A Day at the Center
The Center is open to the public five days a week for tutoring and dropping in with questions or needs. Within a large open classroom area, 10 or 12 round tables, with two chairs apiece, await each tutor and student.
For an hour or so, the atmosphere is quiet except for the low murmur of adult voices at each table. When a wind chime announces “teatime,” everyone moves to the kitchen area to pick up a beverage and snack or a tasty homemade treat from a student’s home country. Information in English about local happenings is shared. A question posted on the fridge prompts tutors and students to respond in English: “My name is, I come from, or I live in . . . ” followed by an answer to the question. Some students speak spontaneously; others have prepared an answer with help from their tutor. When all have had the satisfaction of using their own voice in English, they return to complete the day’s classroom experience.
Celebrating Milestones
A highlight occurs when a student passes the U.S. citizenship exam. An invitation to attend a citizenship ceremony is a happy ending to a long journey shared by family. This accomplishment is also celebrated among classmates during a visit back to the Lantern.
The Symbiotic Relationship
For Mary, working with immigrants is truly a symbiotic experience, “Among the many joys of working with immigrants is the opportunity both to teach and to learn from persons with a different cultural heritage. I count among my friends people from Mexico, Central America, Syria, and China. I’m always touched by an invitation to be present when a student takes the oath of citizenship in a U.S. courthouse.”
Kathy agrees, sharing, “I’ve come to understand tutoring as a mutual activity: the student learns English, and I, as the teacher, become personally aware of the many losses and hurdles a newcomer experiences when coming to the United States. Tutoring keeps my feet on the ground. Teaching English to new immigrants has become as much a part of my spiritual life as my morning quiet time.”
This story was featured in:
SPRING 2024: BVMs on the Run Toward Justice
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