Seeds of Hope: Adult Basic Education Program

From The Mustard Seed, Winter 2012
By Ann Sullivan, Volunteer Tutor

Ann and Françoise celebrate at Françoise’s citizenship ceremony.

It’s a day of celebration whenever Catherine McAuley Center students return to the Center with a certificate of citizenship in their hands and a proud smile on their faces. This year that has happened eleven times. Leading up to that day were many hours of preparation, not to mention nervous jitters.

I have the privilege of working with one of these people, a lovely woman from Rwanda. She and her family spent some years as refugees before they came to the United States, first to Denver and then to Cedar Rapids, where they like the small city atmosphere. That move was about two years ago. After about five months Françoise began coming to CMC. Her English skills have improved beautifully. Early in the fall, she asked to work in the Citizenship book and with the citizenship flashcards. As we did so, we talked about the steps in the citizenship process. There was paperwork, an interview and exam, and, finally, the ceremony. Whenever we talked about the ceremony, we called it the “oath day” and raised our right hands.

That day was set for December 2, 20 11, at the Federal Court House in Davenport. There were concerns about it being a strange, new place and about the possibility for bad weather. But the Court House was very easy to find, and it was a beautiful, sunny day.

After passing through heavy security, the soon-to-be citizens, fifty of them in all, found their assigned places, and their families and friends filled in the available seating. Thorough instructions were given, a few short speeches of welcome were made, and then Judge Thomas Shields rose and performed the ceremony that made these individuals from over twenty countries new citizens of the United States of America.

The Judge’s address after the oath was very moving. He said that he was an adopted child and liked to think of these new citizens as being adopted by the United States. He acknowledged that they had just sworn loyalty to the United States and were no longer citizens of their former countries. But he advised them to never forget their homeland, their culture, their language, their customs, or… their grandmothers’ recipes.

After the ceremony, there was time for photographs. Each time Françoise posed, she held up her certificate, and if near a flag, she grasped it with her other hand. There was no mistaking that she was happy and proud. The family photos were especially meaningful because, on that day, everyone in her family was an American citizen. And I must say that I felt like a proud mom and grandma.

I wrote to Judge Shields afterwards, thanking him for his beautiful sentiments. In a reply to me he said, “I hope when you have the opportunity, you will tell other people about your experience at a naturalization ceremony and encourage them to attend if at all possible.” This is my opportunity.