The pleasures of watching emigre family adapt to U.S.

What a joy it has been to watch "our Russian Jewish emigre family" grow -- in all senses of the word "grow."

In 1993, we became volunteers through what is now the S.F.-based Jewish Family and Children's Services' One to One Program to Marat, a computer programmer, his wife Lyudmila, a physician, and their daughter Olga, then 12 years old and in the seventh grade.

For our first get-together, we picked them up at their one-bedroom apartment. Their English was limited; they had no jobs, no car and no American friends.

They studied and worked extremely hard. Today Marat is a programmer with a major Internet company; Lyudmila is a second-year medical resident; Olga graduates from high school in June with high honors and enters college in September.

Our biggest thrill, which occurred in mid-March, was seeing the pride in their faces as they gave us a tour of their newly purchased home. As volunteers, there is no way to express the great satisfaction we feel in assisting Marat and his family to so quickly adapt and succeed in achieving the American dream.

Recently at a family meeting, we told them how much pleasure we receive from being their friends, not just volunteers. They expressed their appreciation, gratitude and love for helping them to adapt to the American way of life. They lamented, however, that many emigre families need and want to have volunteers, if only to speak English with them an hour or so a week.