ALMAS reaches out

In an effort to assist the Latina women of the Greenville community, two ECU Brody medical students, Sarah Mian and Reema Padia, have created the ALMAS tutoring program. Supported by funding from the Schweitzer Fellowship, the program was first implemented in August 2009.

One of the goals of the ALMAS tutoring program is to teach Latina women the “English skills necessary to lead a more productive lifestyle.”

Mian and Padia are seeking to accomplish this goal by tutoring and mentoring Latina women once a week at the Berstein Community Clinic in Greenville. Volunteers are paired with one Latina woman with whom they will meet on a regular basis and develop a relationship with in order to help the Latina women achieve personal and professional goals.

Padia stated that she had noticed a need for a tutoring program like ALMAS when she met with Latina women in the Greenville community. They revealed to her that there are no services currently offered to Latina women to aid them in developing their English skills.

The ALMAS program offers a variety of services to the women who participate, including a free child care service and health information sessions at least once a month.
According to Mian, the child care services offer is not only a complimentary place for the women’s children to stay, but it also allows Spanish-speaking children to meet in a new environment, one outside of school.

Mian recalled some Latino children who were teased at school for having unusual last names. The ALMAS child care facilities provide the children with a non-threatening place to meet other Latino children.

The program’s heath information sessions have also been beneficial to the Latino women. The sessions have provided the women with information about health issues such as breast cancer, Mian and Padia explained.

A representative from the Public Health Department also spoke to the women about proper nutrition and eating healthy meals on a good budget.

The sessions have also been used to teach the women the basic English vocabulary needed for a productive visit to the doctor’s office — for both them or their children.
As for the success of the program, Padia explained that they’ve been thriving in many aspects. The volunteers were able to help one of their participants in building a job resume, posting it online and, eventually, finding a job.

The success of the program has extended to the immediate family of the Latino women as well. One volunteer came to the tutoring session early in order to help one woman’s son learn to read and write.

Mian also mentioned how working with the women has opened their eyes to issues within the Latino community.

“Even just working with the kids, it’s interesting to see how different it is for them. Most of the kids are interpreters for their parents,” she said.
Main explained that even seeing the women outside of the clinic allows them to see what kind of connection the Latina women have with the predominantly English-speaking community.

“You really begin to see the kind of barriers the Latino women face in the community,” she said.

The ALMAS program utilizes only female volunteers for the tutoring aspect of their program. Padia explained that using female volunteers provides a more comfortable and engaging environment for the Latina women.

Padia and Mian explained that, in the future, they would really like ALMAS to be a more developed program.

“We’re hoping to find tutors who are really interested in taking over the program,” said Padia, since she and Mian will both be entering their third year of medical school next year.

This writer can be contacted at news@theeastcarolinian.com.