Lucas Baird has been shelving books at the Wanaka Library as part of his volunteer activities for SIC. While there he got chatting to Sonia, who is from Bangladesh. Sonia is new to Wanaka. She’s learning English and must take an exam, which will also improve her job prospects. Lucas is now tutoring Sonia after his library shifts, and says,

“Though she still often omits the ‘s’ on the ends of plurals and the occasional ‘a’ or ‘the’ from a sentence, she is learning to improve and it is cool to witness. Sonia got offered a job opportunity… possibly some of the English that we have been working on will help with her communicating to sell herself and convince them to hire her. “

It’s so good to remember how the time and effort you give to helping one person can make such a real difference. Good on you Lucas. And good luck with the job hunt, Sonia.