January 31, 2013

Adult literacy tutoring program in Camarillo brings together unlikely pair

by Mark Storer in vcstar.com, originally published on 12/4/12

PHOTO BY CHUCK KIRMAN, VENTURA COUNTY STAR - Bashar Shajrawi (left) and Saul Lessler, in the Camarillo library adult tutoring and learning center, have developed a friendship since Lessler became Shajrawi's tutor at the library.

Bashar Shajrawi left his native Jordan to come to the United States at the start of this year.

“Believe it or not, my only reason to come to America is marriage — no more, no less,” said Shajrawi, 26, of Camarillo. “My reason for doing that is that you can work anywhere, but you can’t find the girl you seek anywhere.” He and his wife, Inas Alshurafa, are expecting a son in the coming months. “I’m lucky to have her,” he said.

Shajrawi received a degree in accounting in Jordan, but his English skills needed work, and he couldn’t work as an accountant without learning to speak and write English. He volunteered to work in the Camarillo library upon his arrival in the U.S., and there he found the Adult Literacy Center.  “They told me it was a place where I could learn to make my English better,” he said.

Meanwhile, Saul Lessler, a retired lawyer who volunteers as a tutor at the center, had been asking the center’s coordinator, Lee Weiss, for a new student. “He’s such a strong tutor, and I wanted to be sure that Bashar had someone like him. Saul has worked with a lot of students and has brought them along not only in English but in their progress in this country,” Weiss said. “He helps them develop their confidence and their self-awareness.”

She also knew Shajrawi was an observant Muslim and Lessler a religious Jew.

To read more click here.

 

Filed under: Community

No Comments

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.

Resources
Tutoring Foundations Tutor Training