Nelia Resendes-Marques volunteers as a One-on-One English Tutor. This is her story.

In 1972, I was 5 years old when I immigrated with my parents to this wonderful country I am proud to call Canada. I grew up very quickly having to learn the English language, come home, help my parents translate bills and make phone calls because they had no English and I at least learnt some in Kindergarten. When I was 6 years old, I stayed home after school to watch my two younger siblings so my parents could go to work and make ends meet. When I look back to that time I question, how did I ever do that? When I was 12 years old, I found my father his first electrical job. Why? Because I saw the desperate needs in the family financially, and again I knew I had to step in. This young life experience had a beginning, and it didn’t stop there. I wanted to do more because I knew what my parents went through then which led this inner drive to do for others. So, I contacted the Immigrant Centre.

I started volunteering at the Immigrant Centre back in 1993-1996 as a Language Bank Interpreter for the Portuguese community and also as a Settlement and Hospitality Worker. I was so excited to have found a restaurant job for two women from Vietnam, who got hired after their work experience. During this period, I also volunteered and worked at Employment Projects for Women where my job was to rewrite resumes for newcomers to Winnipeg and facilitate resume and job finding workshops. In 1999 – 2002 our church sponsored refugees. I was proud to connect and help a young mom and daughter from Sierra Leone start their experience in Winnipeg. Since 1998 to present, I have had different roles in the High School as an Educational Assistant. I started my career working with individuals with both physical and mental disabilities. After having my second child, I took 5 years off to raise my children, returning to work in 2009 working with the international students, which I very much loved and enjoyed. This passion led me to taking my TESL and enhance my knowledge and experience to assist students with diverse language abilities.

Years pass, kids are grown up and working, I’m still working and feeling I need to do something that I love doing, so once again, I contact the Immigrant Centre. I am happy to tutor one-on-one with a wonderful young mom from Ukraine. Our tutoring has led to helping her find a doctor. Doctors are hard to come by these days and why not share our connections? We also toured different parts of Winnipeg ending up at The Leaf. It was a very memorable day for both of us. I know she appreciated it, but the pleasure was all mine. Honestly, I can do this for a living!

My current school has become diverse by welcoming many students from Ukraine, Syria, and other countries. My interests at work have led me to learn some Ukrainian and Arabic languages. Students love when you take an interest in their culture just by practicing with them. It helps build connection, relationships, and rapport. I have also appreciated having the opportunity to learn more strategies and resources by taking the EAL Workshops with the Immigrant Centre. I love that I can have the best of both worlds in my volunteer role which helps me with my job and vice versa.

Thank you Ann, for your guidance and support and recognizing my passion to connect, support and build a positive rapport with students.