Cultural exchange programs for educators bring teachers from around the world to South Dakota.
But there’s another end of the story. Eventually, it’s time to come home.
After five years, it’s time for special education teacher Michael Lamis and art teacher Emmanuel Ennace to go home to the Philippines. They’ve spent the last half decade in McLaughlin, a small community on the Standing Rock Reservation.
During that time, they left a mark on the community.
Their friend, local newspaper editor Lois Buechler, said Lamis wasted no time in volunteering for a completely unknown community as a first responder.
“He helped us get our new jump bags for the fire department, he’s gotten our webinars," Buechler said. "He’s brought a lot to the fire department. We got him on a snowmobile last year, and I think he’s helped a lot of the SPED students. We’re going to miss him – a lot.”
For Ennace, his mark takes the form of a literal landmark for the community.
“Watching him with the kids this summer, painting that mural, was amazing," Buechler said. "You can’t explain it. He was standing there, taking these red solo cups to mix the paint, and while he was off painting the kids were under the tent trying to make the same color he just made. He’s taught a lot to these kids.”
But the clock is ticking on their time with the community.
“We were in a program which is a J1 (visa) program for teachers that’s cultural exchange where we have to work for five years here and the purpose of it is to learn the culture from here, to share our culture, and after five years we have to go home,” Lamis said.
This type of program is more than just a cultural exchange. On top of bringing very real perspective to these communities, this visa helps bring educators to places in desperate need of help for the local school systems.
Especially in a town like McLaughlin, an isolated, reservation community with a population under 1,000.
Lamis said there are direct connections between their time here and their previous experiences in the Philippines.
“We have this every year where we have to make a program where our students in our present school and our students in previous schools are going to communicate with each other through videos, chat or written form," Lamis said. "Then, they have to learn from each other. It’s a communication for both students.”
There are things you can find in rural South Dakota that simply don’t exist on a tropical island, like witnessing the Northern Lights for the first time. However, with time running out on their stay, Lamis said he’s trying to take the good with the bad.
“Right now, it’s a mixed emotion," Lamis said. "Where we’re excited to go back home – especially right now I’m thinking about a beach maybe. My kids are also excited about it. At the same time we’re missing the people, the environment.”
For Ennace, he’s shocked it's already time to go home.
“It’s amazing that it’s already our fifth year," Ennace said. "We really enjoyed everything, especially the culture. The education system is really quite different from what we have in the Philippines, and there’s more engagement with both schools and the community.”
He said he’ll take the arts and culture he found in America back home.
“Back in the Philippines, most artists there belong to the local group of artists," Ennace said. "We also have our culture and traditions. We utilize art as the primary tool to sustain our cultural heritages. I found, particularly Native American art culture is particularly beautiful. As a J1 visa tour, we need to – I personally would like to share – what I learned about the culture. The talking circle, everything.”
As Ennace prepares for his next step, he can’t help but thinking about a future in the States.
"We’re actually dreaming of possibly having the chance to stay, for good," Ennace said. "We’ll grab at it anyway, but we have to follow the rules. Being an immigrant visa-holder, that would be better. Me, personally as an artist and as a teacher, I found South Dakota has its original beauty.”
The dream extends beyond Ennace’s professional ambitions. Like many potential immigrants, he’s dreaming of the best possible future for his family.
“We see our kids grow, not only physically but in almost every aspect of their being," Ennace said. "Not only physically, but in almost every aspect of their being – which is a good thing. That’s one thing I’m grateful for being in the United States. The States helped us develop our kid well.”
For now, the clock is ticking on the pairs time in McLaughlin, and America more broadly. Under the J1 visa, both need to wait at least two years before having another opportunity to return, either temporarily or as new American citizens.