The Beauty of Migration
Autumn has arrived in Kansas. After six years in the south, the magic of leaves changing and the smell of fall has me experiencing the beauty around me with fresh eyes. Amplifying the experience, even more, is watching my 3-year-old, Autumn (can you tell I love this season?), crunch and roll through piles of freshly fallen leaves. This afternoon, Autumn (my daughter) pointed at the sky and yelled, “honk, honk!” Since last week’s early snow, Canadian geese have gotten the message…it’s time to migrate south. They’ve been flying over Fort Leavenworth to rest at the Missouri River before continuing along their journey. It got me thinking about the beauty of migration.
Standing outside on such a beautiful fall afternoon put me in a reflective mood. There is true beauty in migration. The journey into the unknown with the hope of something better. The geese know it’s their season to leave their comfortable summer homes. They fly together for thousands of miles to a place they hope will be safe until they can return.
In El Paso, a community of immigrants welcomed me with open arms. Some were fellow military spouses who left what was familiar to follow their service member to a new place.
Some were volunteer corps members serving on the border.
Some were Mexican-Americans, who had lived in the beautiful multicultural community that is El Paso.
Still others were asylum seekers and green card-holders with a dream and a hope for a secure future.
I have so many memories of dinners and coffee shared, of hikes and runs, and so much more.
El Paso became a patchwork home for me.
Inspired by this beautiful community of immigrants, about six months after Autumn was born, I started volunteering with an immigrant advocacy group that visited detained asylum seekers at the El Paso Processing Center. For more than a year, I met once a week with migrants from Mali, Guinea, Cuba, El Salvador, and Honduras. Each experience transformed me in little ways.
These sojourners shared their stories of fear, hope, disappointment, and acceptance. There were moments I felt powerless to do anything to improve their circumstances and other moments when I couldn’t help but feel the power of small acts of kindness making big impacts in both my life and theirs.
Each story brought new ways of seeing the world, and I carry them with me still.
Like many military spouses, even as I felt deep fulfillment and purpose in my community, I knew we would soon be moving to our next station. My experiences in El Paso shaped my vision for the kind of community I would like to build everywhere we go.
When we arrived in Kansas this June, I made it my mission to keep my eyes open for opportunities to develop our community. A trip to Army Community Services led me to the English as a Second Language classes for the spouses of international military students at the Command and General Staff College.
As a volunteer ESL teacher and conversation partner, I’ve connected with three spouses: one from Kosovo, one from South Korea, and one from Turkey. Over the past three months, our weekly conversations have blessed me with not only wonderful opportunities to try popular national dishes from each country, but also a chance to expand my understanding of the world.
We laugh about things that are lost in translation and are so thankful for Google translate. We use lots of gestures. I apologize for English grammar rules (they’re never consistent or straightforward). We share pictures of our children and families. I’m learning the subtleties of their cultures (do they hug to greet or kiss both cheeks?). Every visit I leave with a lightness and joy from our conversation.
I’m blown away by the strength of these ladies—two of whom never traveled outside of their country before getting on international flights with their children, crossing oceans to join husbands already in the USA. Every day, they leave their houses and enter a world whose language and culture they understand only at varying degrees. They persevere even when they’re intimidated by all that’s different and beyond their language proficiency to understand.
There’s something indefinable about the connections I’ve made with these women and other travelers I’ve met. The sharing of culture reveals a thread that seems to unite us all. Despite our differences, we aren’t so different.
Our journey with the military grants us an amazing opportunity to connect with others as we move and migrate with our spouses. We can connect with other Americans whose experiences are different than our own. We can connect with members of the community in which we live. Depending on the installation, there’s almost always an opportunity to connect with international citizens.
I would highly recommend checking out your ACS for volunteer opportunities as an ESL conversation partner. For an hour a week, at a cafe or your house, you can create a friendship that will stretch your understanding of the world while revealing the many ways in which we’re connected.
Many of us have experienced the emotions of leaving one home for another. It’s a truly beautiful experience to share your own story while supporting and affirming the journey of a fellow sojourner.
