NALC- 5

This week I went for my fifth visit to the NALC. I was really excited to find out that I had a student from Haiti. Haiti is close to my heart since my roommate was there during the earthquake in January 2 years ago and is still overcoming the heartache and trauma she experienced. Through that, I have developed a love for the people of Haiti and a sympathy for seeing what they have gone through.

Unfortunately she did not come! I waited for about 15 minute only to find that she had cancelled for the day. However, I did have the opportunity to serve in a different way that day by doing office work. Primarily I just filed and organized some things around the office. As I was doing this I realized just how much work goes into the NALC beyond what we see. I went into the back office to use the file cabinets and there were piles of papers that one of the ladies was sorting through and correcting, while another lady was calling people to set up appointments. I could tell that it is a difficult thing to set up appointments for people who do not speak English very well. The lady was literally trying to ask for someone on the other line for about 10 minutes before she finally was able to speak to the right person. She said that is normal for them!

I also was encouraged by the planning efforts of the staff. I was able to see how they carefully review the feedback we leave on sheets and evaluate each student for their next appointment. It helped me to see that the feedback we leave is very important and valuable for the staff.

So, even though I did not get to tutor this time, my eyes were opened to the details and depth of work that goes into the NALC behind the scenes.