The Impact of Knoxville Internationals Network - KIN - KIN - CONNECT

The Small Things are Big

3/24/2022

Dan thought KIN’s Embrace Initiative would be a good outreach project and a way for his men’s group to experience community mission work and grow closer. One of the young men in the group thought, “This is going to be fun, just hanging out and building relationships.”

So KIN representatives met the 7 men on a Saturday morning, walked them through a not-so-short orientation, and introduced “their” international family.

An Eagle Scout and an Elder Stateman

11/9/2020

2020 n16
It sounds like the beginning of a joke: An Eagle Scout and an elder stateman walk into a used bookstore…

But it’s not a joke. It’s the kind of thing that happens often in KIN’s LaMP program.

When Unprecedented is Good

5/19/2020

2020 n09
Twice a week, Mrs. W logs into an online meeting platform and connects with a family across town. The three siblings are lined up, ready to work with her for about 20 minutes each. Their father is there, too. He follows along, encouraging the children, but he usually learns a few new things himself, too.

Of Holidays, Gravy, and Refugee Camps

11/20/2019

2019 n23
If you grew up in the United States, the story isn’t new for you. You know about the Pilgrims’ struggle to survive when they first arrived in the new land, about the Native Americans’ generosity and patience, and about that first Thanksgiving feast to celebrate a plentiful harvest.

But Thanksgiving is an exclusively American holiday, so for ten African adult English students meeting at a nearby middle school, everything about it is new—even the mashed potatoes.

What'cha Gonna Do?

10/22/2019

2019 n22
There’s English, and then there’s southern American. The ESL workbooks don’t teach southern American, which means the books don’t provide a few of the words our internationals need to understand their Knoxville neighbors.

One recent ESL class talked about contractions. The instructor handed out a list of common contractions, and the class reverse-engineered them to discover the full phrases behind each one.

Crafts & Conversation

8/19/2019

2019 n15
Twelve heads bent over the table, seven of them covered by scarves. Sunlight poured over the space from a wall of windows. Six cultures were represented. On this day, they were making potholders: tracing a mitten shape onto colorful fabrics and liners, then hand-sewing the pieces together with strong, white thread.

Several conversations were always going, participants shifting between them without missing a word. One lady stacked her cut pieces on the table, saying, “I can sew at home by myself. I came here to talk.”

One Day to Celebrate

7/8/2019

2019 n13
Orange shirts were everywhere, and we weren’t at a UT football game! The shirts welcomed everyone who entered in their own language. Drums echoed beyond the doors, beckoning us all into the space. Smiles played across every face—volunteers and visitors.

Where was I? At this year’s World Refugee Day celebration: one day marked to celebrate people from many nations who have immigrated to the United States, escaping violence and oppression while bringing beauty and creativity to metro Knoxville.

Starting Over AGAIN

6/17/2019

Vincent with his family, at the mall shortly after they arrived

2019 n12
In primary school, Vincent Ndahayo had to draw the African continent, placing all the countries with their capitals and naming the president of each. This knowledge served him well in 1994 when, at the age of 24, Vincent faced the difficult decision to leave his home and country or be killed because of his ethnicity.

Neighborhood Walk

5/6/2019

2019 n09
Esther’s kids walked six blocks to and from school every day. It was less than a mile each way. As a child back in Africa, Esther and her siblings had walked much further without giving it a second thought. There were homes along the way, so Esther never imagined her kids were unsafe.

The Orange Line

2/8/2019

2019 n03
She came to Knoxville alone: a widow with three small children, fleeing an ongoing conflict in her African home country. She found an English class and attended faithfully all summer. With a small child on each hand and her baby strapped to her back, she wrote down every word and asked many questions, but she needed to learn more quickly, so she added another day of classes.

Soon she found a job, but she had to take the bus to get there. That's where things got confusing.

A Fence Between Neighbors

12/31/2018

2018 n04
Sundays are different at Lennon-Seney United Methodist Church these days. Swahili songs bounce off the beautiful stained-glass windows, and people greet a few church members as “Teacha” when they pass.

Just one year before this was written, Pastor McLain and others looked across the chain-link fence separating their church property from an apartment complex full of African refugees. How could they reach these new neighbors? How could they tangibly love them? How could they break through the figurative fence separating the two cultures?

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Knoxville, TN 37930

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Knoxville, TN 37919

Photos from shixart1985, jonkriz, shixart1985, Jocey K, Rod Waddington