Rivelino and Ken’s Story

One of our students, Rivelino, is an Oceanography professor from Brazil. He spent time recently, studying at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Center. While here he wanted to improve his English language skills, so he signed up for our services and was assigned Ken, one of our volunteers, as his one-to-one tutor.

Ken summarized their experiences together:

"During the past year Rivelino and I became good friends and it was 
a very rewarding experience. His English did improve but our 
relationship was much deeper than just literacy. He said I was his
best friend in the US and that our friendship was the highlight of
their stay here. This wasn't the kind of situation I envisioned when
I volunteered, but it turned out to be a very rich experience. Chalk
it up as a success for your program."

After returning to Brazil, Rivelino contributed to a scientific study on “…procedures that could be used for the environmental assessment of a coastal region with multiple human activities” that was published and accepted by the Bulletin of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology. In the acknowledgements section of the paper, Rivelino wrote:

Special thanks go to Dr. Ken L. for his experience, friendship
and contagious joy.

Ken’s most recent comment on their friendship:

"I felt honored to be cited in this way. I will visit him in Brazil
in February. An amazing experience and it shows how your program can
change people’s lives for both learner and teacher."