Monday, August 26, 2013

KRISHNA JANMASHTAMI Celebration in Denver

It's Krishna's birthday!

The Bhutanese Hindu community in Denver invites you to celebrate this very special and holy festival with them. Krishna is one of the most important gods in the Hindu faith, and Krishna Janmashtami is the celebration of his birth.

If you would like to learn more about the holiday, the local Bhutanese community invites you to join them in celebrating this auspicious occasion and to mark a day full of joy and blessings. There will be music, cultural dance, and more!
 

Anyone who is interested is invited to observe this unique celebration based on the Hindu Culture. 

Wednesday, August 28
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Lowry Park
1000 Dayton St., Aurora Colorado

Click here for a map to this location.

Click here to learn about the history and traditions of Krishna Janmashtami.

Friday, August 23, 2013

You are invited to experience a bit of Hindu culture

The Bhutanese Hindu Community of Colorado is asking you to share in a very special event. His Holiness Sri Tridandi Srimannarayana Ramanuja Chinna Jeeyar Swamiji, a Vedic pontiff, a preacher and Vashnavite guru is coming to Denver to visit the Hindu community.

The Bhutanese Hindu community cordially invites you to attend the program, celebrate with them, and receive blessings from Swamiji.

If you do not speak Nepali or Hindi, please send an email bhagawatprapanna@gmail.com to RSVP and request an interpretation headset. It is requested that, to be respectful, women wear long sleeves with pants or a skirt that cover the legs.


Thursday, August 29
1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Eloise May Library
1471 S Parker Rd
Denver, CO 80231

Organizer: Bhutanese Hindus of Colorado
Contact: 720-422-9978, 720-989-0651

Thursday, August 22, 2013

Remote tutoring--or just a visit!

In the past year, several in-home tutors have used Skype with their students. If you're unfamiliar, Skype is a free program that lets you use your computer to call another user and communicate in real time, with or without a video interface. You need an Internet connection, a webcam, and a microphone. If you have a standalone webcam or a laptop computer, the microphone is usually integrated with the camera.you can also use Skype with a smartphone.

For our purposes, using the video interface is preferred because it's the next-best-thing to a face-to-face conversation.

Many of our in-home students have a computer at home, either their own or for the children to use for schoolwork. Your student may not be computer literate, but Skype doesn't require that. Some simple point-and-click mouse skills will do!

How could you use Skype as a tutor?
  • Check in between lessons
  • Do a short "live" lesson if you're away from home and can't make your regular session
  • Practice speaking and listening skills with your student
  • Help with homework
Use your imagination. Skype is free and easy to use. If your student is from Iraq, chances are she (or he) already uses Skype to keep in touch with family overseas. Go to the Skype website for more information. If you have used Skype with your student, please share your thoughts about the experience in the comments section.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Looking for a new tutoring challenge?

Attention in-home tutors--especially those not currently working with a student!!

We've had a request for a volunteer to teach a large group of Bhutanese refugees in our area. This is a group of about 16 men and women. You would meet in one of their apartments for a minimum of two hours each week.

The location is in Aurora, a few blocks north of E. Colfax Ave. at I-225. Let me know if you're interested in taking this on: sharon_mccreary@dpsk12.org


View Larger Map

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

The Refugees' Bicycles

If you tutor at the apartments on Blackhawk/Billings Street in Aurora, you may have seen a man fixing bicycles in the courtyard of the building. Here's the story behind that. Well worth the six minutes!


Wednesday, June 12, 2013

June = World Refugee Day!

June 20 is world Refugee Day. In Colorado, there are events happening all month and all over to mark the occasion, from Greeley down to Colorado Springs.

Tonight, African Community Center of Denver presents Voices of Refugees, which features refugees telling their stories in their own words. This is always a powerful and moving experience. the event is free and open to the public.


Voices of Refugees
Wednesday, June 12
6:30-8:30 p.m.
Aurora Central High School
11700 E 11th Ave, Aurora, CO 80010

For more information about the event and to read profiles of the featured speakers, click here.

There are dozens more World Refugee Day events happening around our area from now through June 23. Click here for a printable schedule of all events. You can dine out and have part of the price of your meal donated to refugee resettlement. Attend cultural immersion events, enjoy free coffee, learn about employing refugees, visit a photo exhibit or two, shop for crafts, or take part in a 5K run.

Whatever you decide to take part in, please be sure to bring along friends and family to help raise awareness about the refugees being resettled in our communities.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Save the Date!

Tuesday, August 6

 

Emily Griffith Technical College Volunteer Appreciation Event

 

Honoring CRESL classroom volunteers, in-home tutors, Emily Griffith Foundation Board members, and College Advisory Board members

 

Details will be coming soon!

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Help our students learn to interview!

Anyone who has ever been new to the workforce--or returning after time away--knows how nerve-wracking a job interview can be. Like anything else, though, practice makes perfect.

On April 30 and May 1, Emily Griffith Technical College will be hosting a mock career fair to help our students get interviewing practice and gain confidence for the job search..Here's a chance for you to get in touch with your inner actor! We need volunteers to stand in and "play the roles" of human resources professionals. Volunteers will conduct mock interviews with our students and help the students polish their interviewing, presentation, and networking skills.

Volunteers will be assigned to conduct interviews for a particular career area or industry. For example, you might be assigned to play the role of HR representative for "Restaurant," "Hospitality/Hotel," "Healthcare/Hospital," etc. You will be given a script of sample questions to ask and the types of responses expected from the students. After each mock interview, you'll offer feedback and advice on what the student needs improve upon or change.

Volunteer participants should be outgoing, friendly, able to convey a professional demeanor, and enjoy interacting with students from very diverse backgrounds.

Tuesday, April 30
2:00-4:00 p.m.
and
Wednesday, May 1
9:00 a.m.-12:00 noon

You can volunteer for one or both sessions, for even for just an hour.

If you're interested in volunteering as an interviewer for the mock career fair, please contact Kevin Mohatt at Kevin_Mohatt@dpsk12.org or 720-423-4753.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Events that might interest you

Outcasts United:
A Community Conversation with
Luma Mufleh
Inspirational Coach and Founder of The Fugees Soccer Team

Thursday, March 21, 2013, 7:00–9:00 PM
Place Bridge Academy Auditorium
7125 Cherry Creek N Drive, Denver

Luma Mufleh is the inspirational coach of a soccer team called the Fugees—short for refugees. Players, selected for resettlement in a small town outside Atlanta called Clarkston, are from 28 war-torn countries, and most of them have endured unimaginable hardship. They share the experience of being caught between worlds, and something else—a love of soccer, a game many of the boys learned to play in refugee camps, using a bundle of plastic bags and twine for a ball.

The New York Times bestseller Outcasts United documents the remarkable story of how these players, with Mufleh at the helm, found ways to connect and come together across broad cultural divides and oftentimes strong local resentment. Universal Studios is currently making the story into a major motion picture.

Seating is limited. To RSVP, please visit facinghistory.org/communityconversations or call 303-316-4848 x221. As part of Facing History’s national series of Community Conversations, this event is free and open to the public.


Film screening

America by the Numbers with Maria Hinojosa:
Clarkston, Georgia

This short film explores what it takes to be inclusive, engaged and living in the “New America.” It is the story of a small town of 7,500 people that has gone from being 90% white in the 1980s to less than 14% white today. Located in the shadow of Stone Mountain, once a gathering place for Ku Klux Klan cross burnings, Clarkston today is home to thousands of refugees from Vietnam, Somalia, Iraq and Bhutan – along with some forty other countries. This is an intimate look at how changing demographics are reshaping the political landscape of America.

This free event includes time for a community discussion following the screening.

Friday, April 19, 2013
3:00 p.m.
First Universalist Church
4101 E. Hampden Ave.
Denver (NE corner of Hampden and Colorado Blvd.)

Presented by Colorado African Organization, Colorado Providers for Integration Network, Welcoming America, and Welcoming Colorado

Monday, January 28, 2013

Resources you can use

What's new at the library
The Arapahoe Library District recently made a helpful addition to its website. As a tutor, you might find this new web page quite useful. The URL for the site is http://arapahoelibraries.org/new-americans. If you get to the website via search in your browser, scroll down to the bottom of the page, and under "Services," click on "New Americans."

Some of the resources on the site include information about free ESL classes, conversation groups, support services for newcomers who have been in the U.S. for less than three years, ESL collections in the library district, online ESL learning tools, downloadable ESL materials, citizenship information and resources, adult literacy resources, and more.

The Denver Public Library also has a many resources for newcomers. On its Community Learning Plazas section of the website, you'll find information about citizenship, language learning, online ESL help, and video language lessons, among other helpful tools. Click on one of the colorful bubbles at the top of the page to access the Learning Plaza you wish to explore.

Just below the graphic for the Learning Plazas, there is a link to Immigrant Resources. this comprehensive list of organizations and services is a good reference for anyone who is or who helps newcomers in the Denver area. Click here to access the DPL Community Learning Plazas.

Take a look around both sites--you are likely to find something of use to you and to your student.

Refugee health and the CDC
Also on the Internet this week, the U.S. Centers for disease control (CDC) has updated its site with some new refugee-specific health information. The first refugee health profile is about the Bhutanese population. More profiles are in development and will be added soon.

While much of the information is intended for medical professionals who encounter refugees in their practice, the information will also provide insight to anyone who has contact with the refugee population. Topics include cultural background, common medical conditions in populations being resettled, migration information, and healthcare and diet in camps. Click here to go to the homepage for Refugee Health Profiles.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

TRAINING SCHEDULE CHANGE

The first 2013 training session for in-home tutors has been changed from January 26 
to Saturday, February 2.