Posts Tagged ‘Refugees and Immigrants Blog’
Welcoming the Welcomers: One Afghanâs Journey to the U.S.
As World Relief continues to resettle Afghans who were evacuated from Afghanistan, we are reminded that resettlement often comes with both grief and gratitude.
For Afghans like David, resettling in North Texas has been an immense gift of safety, security and community. And yet, he feels the heartache of leaving his home and extended family behind. We are grateful to David for sharing his story with us today.
A Culture of Hospitality
âThe most important thing to know about Afghans is, whenever a guest comes to our house, weâre happy for it,â David said. âWe say that guest is not only our guest, itâs Godâs guest that came to our house.â
David had just finished assisting the World Relief North Texas (WRNT) team with a cultural orientation for Afghans who had recently resettled in the area.
As an Afghan and newly arrived immigrant himself, his knowledge of both Afghan and American culture had quickly become a vital asset to the North Texas team in welcoming the influx of Afghan refugees who were arriving.
âI did work for the Americans for 19 years straight,â he said. âI know most of the cultures and how things work because if you work with someone from their country for 19 years, you get to hear a lot of stuff and you get to share your experience with them.â
The Day Life Changed
David, along with his wife and three children, was one of the 53,000 Afghans who were evacuated out of Kabul when it fell to the Taliban in August.
Growing up in Afghanistan, Davidâs father worked as a soldier for the Afghan special forces in Kandahar. Two of his brothers also worked for the coalition forces, and in 2002, shortly after the U.S. launched an attack against the Taliban, David began working with the U.S.
State Department as a translator.
The day the Taliban took Kabul, David was at work, and life changed dramatically for him.
âI had friends in town,â he said. âThey called me that day and said, âYou heard Taliban is in the city? People are running left and right and they’re just scared and don’t know what’s going to happen after this.ââ
When he got off the phone with his friend, he quickly went to his supervisor and informed them of what was happening. At first, no one believed him. They thought it was impossible for the Taliban to take over so quickly, and while David agreed that it seemed unbelievable, the truth soon became clear.
The Rush to Get Out
Over the next three days, David and his colleagues â Afghan and American alike â worked tirelessly to get rid of as much ammunition and military equipment as they could so as not to leave it in the hands of the Taliban. On the fourth day of his shift, though, David was told to go home, get his family and bring them back.
âThey told me, âbring your kids, wife, that we need to evacuate you guys as soon as possible from Kabul,â” David said. âI asked them, âwhat about my other family? Like my mother or my brother?â
âThey said, right now the only thing they could do is me and my wife and kids. They said they could get the rest of my family in the future, but right now, I needed to bring my wife and kids back to the base.â
David left work and drove back to his house. When he arrived, he and his wife packed everything they could into two bags.
âI had only three hours to prepare and we took all the necessary stuff that we needed from the house and made two bags and brought it with us,â he said.
When David and his family returned to the military base, they boarded a plane and left Afghanistan. Though they were now physically safe, the life they knew had been left behind.
Journeying to the U.S.
Over the next few days, David and his family made an exhausting journey across the globe. They spent one night in Qatar before flying to Germany where they stayed on a U.S. military base for seven days. David said that living conditions on the base were not great, but that he didnât blame anyone for the poor conditions. How could he when no one ever expected to have to house so many people with such short notice?
From Germany, David flew to D.C. where he and his family went through customs and border security before finally landing in El Paso, Texas where they would live on another U.S. military base for 30 days.
The two bags they had packed, however, didnât make it.
âWhen we got to Qatar, they took our bags,â David said. âThey said the first priority was to get us out from here, and then it’s the bags⊠For 20 days, we had to wear the same clothes and after 20 days, we finally got to take a shower and change clothes. They took our bags and I still havenât received them.â
While living conditions in El Paso were better than they were in Germany, life was still difficult. David and the other Afghans had to sleep in tents and wait in hours-long lines to get their food each day.
âI don’t blame them because in the camp where we were it was more than 10,000 people,â David said. âIt’s not easy to give food to 10,000 people, three times a day, breakfast, lunch, dinner.â
Each morning, David and several other Afghans would meet with leaders at the U.S. military base hoping for some update as to when they would be released from the base and resettled in a new home.
âWe were not hearing good news,â David said. âAll we were hearing was that we would have to stay here for longer and longer.â
His young kids were becoming restless, often wishing they had stayed in Afghanistan, believing that life was better there. While David tried to comfort them, he too was becoming impatient with living in a tent on a military base.
Eventually, he decided to take matters into his own hands.
Beginning Again
Prior to the fall of Kabul, a few of Davidâs friends and family had been resettled by World Relief North Texas. It was through those friends that David heard about World Relief.
âI called [my friend] and said, âPlease talk to Jonathan (WRNT Program Manager). If itâs possible to get out from this camp…I donât want to wait. Itâs taking too long.ââ
David began making arrangements to leave the military base. He got copies of the necessary paperwork and medical records, booked plane tickets for his family, and left El Paso for Fort Worth. They spent their first night in Fort Worth at Davidâs cousinâs house, but the following day, Jonathan called David to say that an apartment was ready for them.
âHe got the apartment ready in two days. It was amazing,â David said. âI couldn’t believe they helped us so much. They brought food, furnitures, beds for the kids, everything. Everything was in the house like a family living already.â
David said that walking into the house was like taking a deep breath. His children were thrilled and immediately began asking about when they could go to school.
Over the next few days, World Relief caseworkers helped get Davidâs kids enrolled in school. Davidâs wife purchased fabric and began sewing herself new dresses since their bags remained lost. David began volunteering with World Relief, acting as a translator and liaison with new Afghans as they arrive in North Texas.
âI told Jonathan the other day if he needs help as a culture-wise, I know more about Afghans, how to provide good relations, and help and stuff. I’m always ready to help them.â
While David and his family are working hard to settle into life in the U.S. â applying for social security, getting a drivers license and working with World Relief to get their SIV case approved â the toll of the last few months still weighs on them and the other Afghans in their community.
âWhat we are requesting from you guys to just please be patient⊠Most of our people have done or have been through a lot of difficulties in Afghanistan and have given a lot of sacrifices when the U.S. military was in Afghanistan. Most of the people lost their brothers, their father, their families in what was going on in Afghanistan.â
You Can Help
Many Afghans, including David, still have family in Afghanistan who are trying to get out. They wait urgently for an update, and we wait and pray with them.
As World Relief works alongside the U.S. government to continue resettling Afghans like David, you can help. You can:
Pray: Pray for David, his family and others like them as they build a new life in the U.S. Pray also for the Afghan allies and civilians who are still seeking safety. Pray for World Relief Resettlement Staff as they work tirelessly to receive refugees as they arrive.
Advocate: Call on Congress to do everything in their power to evacuate as many as possible and resettle Afghan refugees. Together, we can stand with those who are suffering and influence our nation’s leaders to help vulnerable people around the world and in the U.S.
Give: You can respond to urgent crises, welcome immigrants like David and promote peace and justice across the globe by giving to World Relief today.
It takes all of us to build communities of love and welcome that we all feel proud to be a part of. Thank you for moving with us.
Rachel Clair is a Content Manager at World Relief. Alongside an amazing team of marketing colleagues, she manages the curation and creation of written and multi-media content for World Reliefâs global platforms. With more than 10 years of experience creating content for churches and non-profits, she is passionate about developing stories that challenge individuals and communities to lean into all of whom God created them to be. She holds a BFA from Stephens College and is currently pursuing a certificate in a Spiritual Formation at the Transforming Center in Wheaton, IL.
I Never Expected to Be a Refugee
When Life Felt Almost Perfect
I never expected to be a refugee. I joined a university when I was 18 years old, enrolling in the English department at Basra (the Port of Iraq). At the end of my time there, I graduated second in my department. After graduation, I stayed two more years as a researcherâs assistant and then five more years when I was accepted for my masterâs in the linguistics program.
I became a professor in 1987 and moved to Baghdad in 1992 to teach undergraduate and postgraduate students of the English Department at Baghdad University College of Education for Women. Life felt almost perfect, and it seemed I had great success.
For the next 10 years, I continued teaching, translating for the womenâs newsletter, participating in academic, cultural and social activities, and supporting needy students during the 12-year blockade. I especially enjoyed my big extended familyâs weekly gathering to have our authentic food and spend the most precious time together.
Then, in 2003, the unexpected happened. The United States invaded Iraq. This is when my life would change forever.
In hopes to rebuild my country, I stayed three years after the U.S. military arrived. However, the targeted people were the Iraqi brains. Doctors, professors, scientists and engineers were receiving life threats daily. I knew it was only a matter of time before they reached me. It was then I knew I had to leave. My sister, niece and I packed our bags to escape the ongoing danger.
Becoming a Refugee
Life had taken a sudden turn. The complete unimaginable came to be. We had never expected to be refugees. I took a one-year leave to live in Jordan, just to rethink and find some rest. However, the war continued on and when we were accepted into the States, we took our chance to go.
All I knew of America was what I had studied in literature and what I had seen from Oprah and Dr. Philâs shows. I had an idea of what American culture would be like, but it proved to be very different.
In the beginning, our time in America was really tough. Our family had come from a comfortable background. We were different than refugees that had come from impoverished countries or refugee camps. We went from having everything to nothing and it was a shock.
My sister, niece and I cried for the next two weeks. We were depressed and longed for what life had been. But we had to move forward. Surviving a war together, we knew we were not weak, but strong. We made the decision to do whatever it took not only to survive, but to be successful again.
Razkya, my sister, took on the responsibility of home life. My niece, Shatha, was the first one to begin working and thriving (she later got her diamond star from JC Penney and now she is furthering her education in make-up artistry and fashion marketing). I applied for community college, but was rejected, even though I had studied the same courses others at the school had. My degree was not from the States and this was enough to receive their rejection.
Three months later, a glimmer of hope came. World Relief offered me a job as an Arabic interpreter and I eagerly accepted it. Not only did they offer me work, but they embraced me. They became my second family, a family I had lost from my home country. I knew this job was meant for me.
[Re]Building
Eventually, I went from working part-time with World Relief to a full-time position as a program caseworker. I now have the opportunity to advocate for refugees and immigrants just like myself. I have also served as a member of the Refugee Advisory Council for the past three years, along with starting a WhatsApp group to build community for refugee and immigrant women. This group shares needed information on health services, employment opportunities, educational support and even recipes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
I have felt so loved during my time at World Relief. I have gained a community I never imagined having in America. I have been participating in many cultural festivals in order to create a mutual understanding about our Iraqi-Arabic-Islamic culture. World Relief has given me the chance to teach about my country and culture and offers this same opportunity to other refugees.
This past year, the support and love I have received from World Relief was so important, as I endured the painful loss of my sister, Razkya. She recently passed from COVID and life has just not been the same without her. My grief is so deep. However, my niece and I do our best to press on. We are turning our grief into honor and success for Razkya.
By giving back, our family has been able to show our gratitude. My sister always did this through her cooking and had even taken on the nickname of the âIraqi Martha Stewart.â Every year, Razkya would make her favorite dish, biriyani. She served it to our office, police station and community. It was her way of saying thank you.
It has been a long journey. Looking back, I am able to see all the ways God has worked through my life. I never expected to be a refugee. It has not always been easy, but He has always provided, from sunset to sunrise. Even through all the pain and struggle, God has given me a second family and a job I love through World Relief. I continue to give back and advocate for other refugees in hopes of bringing help to those that are experiencing the same pain I once did.
We are so grateful to Amira for sharing her story today. You can join Amira and the rest of the World Relief family as we help refugees and other immigrants [Re]Build their lives in the U.S. by giving today.
Summer Lecas interned for World Relief in Spring 2021. She is a recent graduate of Liberty University with a degree in Strategic Communication.
Amira Al Salami is a Preferred Communities Caseworker at World Relief Tri-Cities. She holds a masterâs degree in linguistics and has more than 10 years of experience teaching as a professor in Iraq. After fleeing war in her home country, Amira came to the U.S. as a refugee in the early 2000s. Today, she is happy to advocate for refugees and teach others about Iraqi culture through her role at World Relief.
A Mother’s Love
This Motherâs Day, we want to wish all of our mothers, in all stages of life, a Happy Motherâs Day. We know that motherhood is a blessing, but itâs not without its trials. For many of our families, mothers have made immense sacrifices for their children. Today, we honor and thank you for all that you do.
This story originally appeared on the World Relief Memphis blog.
Seeta is a mother of four. When her family left Afghanistan, however, only three children boarded the plane with her and her husband, Noor.
Aysha, their youngest daughter at less than a year old, was forced to stay behind as her family left in search of safety in America. Having served the U.S. military as a journalist, Noor and his family could no longer stay in Afghanistan for fear of retaliation from the Taliban.
âI was working with the U.S. military as a journalist, and she was working with USAID (United State Agency for International Development) and United Nations, so it was very dangerous for us because the Taliban did not accept people who worked for foreigners,â Noor explained. âWe were not safe in our country, so in order to seek safety we came here.â
Consequently, Noor and his family were offered Special Immigrant Visas (SIVs) from the U.S. government as a way to not only thank them but also to protect them.
But at the time the visa paperwork was issued, Aysha had not been born. As a result, her paperwork was filed separately, and Noor and Seeta were forced to leave her behind with other family members.
âIt was a hard time because we didnât have any choice,â said Noor, who recently found work with Amazon. âWe thought if we lost that chance, we wouldnât find it again. Because of that, we left our baby there. We came here. If we had cancelled our visas, maybe we wouldnât have been able to get [them] back.â
Seeta and her husband arrived in Memphis in October 2020 with their eight-, six- and five-year-old children. It wasnât until two months after their arrival that they received news about Ayshaâs visa. But, in order for her to come to the U.S., Seeta would have to risk going to Afghanistan and not being able to return to the U.S. because her green card had not arrived.
Determined to be reunited with her daughter, Seeta and her World Relief Good Neighbor Team began looking for a way to make it possible alongside World Relief Memphis staff. After speaking with the State Department, they discovered that her green card had been misplaced, but that she could go to Afghanistan with her current visa knowing that it was coming.
Yet, when she arrived in Afghanistan, she was greeted by a baby who didnât recognize her. The months apart had created distance, but Seeta was patient.
âIt was emotional, and she didnât want to come with me for one day or night, like maybe she [had] forgotten me,â Seeta said. âThen she realized who I am, and now sheâs not leaving me for one minute.â
Finally, Seeta brought her daughter home. Her family was together, and they could begin to rebuild their lives in safety.
Today, she works for Shelby County, helping connect others in her community with the resources they need in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. After advocating for women and childrenâs safety in Afghanistan for many years, Seeta now seeks to empower women in the workplace.
Likewise, Aysha is flourishing.
âSheâs very happy with us now. When she came, she was sad and keeping calm,â Noor said. âBut now, sheâs come back better than ever and is very active.â
When asked if they had hopes and dreams for the future, Noor and Seeta immediately responded.
âFor sure, thatâs why we are here. We are here because of these. We try to do all our best for all our children.â
Bailey Clark serves as the Communications Coordinator for World Relief Memphis. With a background in journalism and advertising, she is passionate about storytelling and its power to make a difference.
All My Hope: A Refugee Story
Long Distance Love
On the morning of February 17th, Rafia woke up and prepared a feast for the arrival of her husband, Abdinasir. But when an unprecedented snowstorm hit the Mid-south, Abdinasirâs flight was canceled and he got stuck in Chicago. Rafia, however, was undeterred.
The next morning, she woke up and cooked another welcome-home meal for her long-awaited husband. But again, for the second time, his flight was canceled.
For five years, Rafia and Abdinasir had communicated only by telephone calls. The two met as refugees at a camp in Kenya after fleeing their home country of Ethiopia. When they were married in January 2015, they never imagined that the first years of their marriage would play out like this.
âI loved and married this person, and this person was leaving me,â Abdinasir said through a translator. âIt was very hard on me to grasp the reality of it, but in everything, itâs Godâs will, so I did not have any control.â
Rafiaâs resettlement paperwork had been filed separately from Abdinasirâs before they were married. There was no time to change it between their wedding and her departure 11 months later, so when her visa was approved, she left for the United States, and Abdinasir was left behind.
Rather than spending the honeymoon period together, the couple found themselves in a long-distance relationship. Moreover, when Rafia arrived in the U.S., she discovered she was pregnant.
âEverything kept twirling in my head,â Abdinasir said. âMy life was just one surprise after the other. All of the sudden she got there, and she was pregnant.â
A Baby on the Way
From a distance, Abdinasir watched as his wife carried his child and suffered through six months of morning sickness in a completely new country, alone. Her pain was so great that Rafia considered terminating the pregnancy. Thankfully, a new friend from her home country of Ethiopia stepped in to provide support, and Rafia was able to carry the baby to full-term. But her difficulties didnât stop there.
Due to labor complications, her baby was delivered through a cesarean section.
When she was sent home from the hospital in Atlanta, she was unable to care for herself or the baby because of the strain it would place on her wound. Eventually, she was forced to return to the hospital due to an infection.
This time, another friend took her under his wing, giving her lodging and helping with her newborn when he could. His job as a truck driver, however, often took him away from home for weeks at a time, and Rafia struggled to care for herself and her baby in his absence.
âEven though I laugh about it, sometimes I donât even want to remember it because it was a very painful experience,â Rafia said.
Meanwhile, Abdinasir was still in a refugee camp on the other side of the ocean. With no news of when his visa would be processed and approved, he could only watch his daughter grow up through a phone screen.
âHer leaving me behind, and me being alone, was hard enough,â he said. âThe fact that she was here, pregnant, alone and going through all of that was just another heartache for me. I was not here physically, but I was just feeling all the pain.â
Hope on the Horizon
Slowly, Rafia regained her strength and was able to meet others within her community. Eventually, she moved to Memphis, and with the help of a friend, she contacted World Reliefâs local office to start the process of bringing her husband home.
âLife was getting better afterwards, and I am grateful for everything. Even though once upon a time I thought this was just the end of me, that I was just going to rot and die alone,â Rafia said. âBut once I got [to Memphis], I told them all my story. They were able to process the visa for Abdinasir, and now heâs here. In many, many, many ways, my survival was because of World Relief.â
In March 2020, four years after their wedding, Abdinasir and Rafia received the news that his visa was being processed. For the first time in a long time, the couple had hope.
âI heard a lot about World Relief, and the fact they would do everything in their power to reunite families,â Abdinasir said. âThat gave me the biggest hope that they would do anything and everything to unite us.â
Each time Abdinasir called his family after that, his daughter would ask the same question: âDaddy, when are you coming?â And each time, the truth that he would soon be with them became a little more real. If Abdinasir could have had it his way, he would have grown wings and flown out at that moment.
Instead, he and Rafia drew strength from their faith and maintained hope in Godâs plan for their lives, counting down the days to when Abdinasir would arrive and they could begin life as a family. After five years of waiting, a delayed flight in Chicago was nothing for the couple.
Finally Reunited
On the morning of Abdinasirâs arrival, Rafia eagerly awoke. But this time, she didnât cook a welcome-home meal. Jokingly, she said Abdinasir could eat what was left over from the other two meals she made. Instead, she and her daughter waited patiently at the airport, giddy with excitement.
When Abdinasir finally landed in Memphis his first thought was who should he kiss first â the daughter he was meeting for the first time or the wife he had said goodbye to five years ago? Overwhelmed with emotion, he embraced his wife first then turned to hug his daughter for the very first time.
âItâs my turn now since sheâs been through all this hardship all this time alone. I just really want to be the anchor for my family and be the man of the house for everything going forward,â Abdinasir said.
A month into his new life with his wife and daughter, Abdinasir is working hard to learn English and find a job. His prayer is that this is just the start and not the ending. He is filled with hope as he thinks of the future that lies ahead of his family â one that he had never thought possible when he was forced to leave his country so many years ago.
âComing from all the horror stories and everything else, you come here and youâre a human. You have rights,â he said. âTo me, I have left all the troubles and everything right there where I came from. Nothing but the best moving forward, and thatâs all my hope.â
Give today and help us welcome and reunite more families like Rafia and Abdinasir. Together, we can build communities of love and welcome that we all feel proud to be a part of.
Bailey Clark serves as the Communications Coordinator for World Relief Memphis. With a background in journalism and advertising, she is passionate about storytelling and its power to make a difference.
Everything You Need to Know About Unaccompanied Minors at the Border, Part 2
A Conversation with Matthew Soerens and Jenny Yang
Recently weâve seen reports of another âcrisisâ at the U.S.-Mexico border, particularly related to children, or âunaccompanied minors.â
We continue to explore and understand whatâs actually happening, what should be happening?, and what can followers of Jesus who care about vulnerable children do?
Weâre continuing the conversation World Reliefâs President, Scott Arbeiter, started with Jenny Yang and Matthew Soerens, World Reliefâs in-house immigration policy experts and co-authors of Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion and Truth in the Immigration Debate to help us understand whatâs currently happening at the border. (If you missed part 1, listen or read to it here.)
Quick Facts:
Immigration policy can be confusing and hard to keep track if you arenât familiar with the language. Below are a few key terms to keep in mind as you listen and/or read.
TVPRA: The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. A 2008 law that, among many other elements, governs how unaccompanied children identified at the border are to be treated.
Title 42: A public health law that both the Trump and Biden administrations have cited as a legal justification to turn away asylum seekers because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Migrant Protection Protocols: A Trump administration policy that required most asylum seekers who arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border to âremain in Mexicoâ to await their court hearings, rather than being allowed to wait safely in the U.S. for their court proceedings.
Scott Arbeiter is a former pastor of Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin, and the president of World Relief, which is a subsidiary of the National Association of Evangelicals.
Everything You Need to Know About Unaccompanied Minors at the Border Part 1
A Conversation with Matthew Soerens and Jenny Yang
This week, weâre seeing news reports of another âcrisisâ at the U.S.-Mexico border, particularly related to children, or âunaccompanied minors.â
Whatâs actually happening? What should be happening? And what can followers of Jesus who care about vulnerable children do?
Here, World Reliefâs President, Scott Arbeiter, sits down with Jenny Yang and Matthew Soerens, World Reliefâs in-house immigration policy experts and co-authors of Welcoming the Stranger: Justice, Compassion and Truth in the Immigration Debate to help us understand whatâs currently happening at the border.
Quick Facts:
Immigration policy can be confusing and hard to keep track if you arenât familiar with the language. Below are a few key terms to keep in mind as you listen and/or read.
TVPRA: The Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. A 2008 law that, among many other elements, governs how unaccompanied children identified at the border are to be treated.
Title 42: A public health law that both the Trump and Biden administrations have cited as a legal justification to turn away asylum seekers because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Migrant Protection Protocols: A Trump administration policy that required most asylum seekers who arrived at the U.S.-Mexico border to âremain in Mexicoâ to await their court hearings, rather than being allowed to wait safely in the U.S. for their court proceedings.
Scott Arbeiter is a former pastor of Elmbrook Church in Brookfield, Wisconsin, and the president of World Relief, which is a subsidiary of the National Association of Evangelicals.
COVID and the Issues: U.S. Programs
World Relief currently operates local offices in 18 cities across the United States. Our teams are committed to helping new immigrants thrive by providing vital services and building communities of love and welcome. In addition to case management, our U.S. offices offer English language classes, job training and placement programs, legal services, youth mentoring, mental health services and more.
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, all U.S. programming took place in person. But in March, everything changed. As the country shut down, so did our physical office locations, and our teams were forced to find a way to bring their very interactive programming to a virtual space.
Today, in the fourth week of our COVID and the Issues series, weâre talking with Jennifer Foy, Vice President of U.S. Programs at World Relief. Jenn discusses the new needs that immigrants are facing in the wake of the pandemic and how our U.S. teams are adapting to meet those needs. In Chicagoland alone, the staff received 500 phone calls in less than a week from immigrants who had been laid off and needed help navigating unemployment and finding new jobs.
Itâs been overwhelming and unprecedented. But, as Jenn discusses, the resilience and creativity that is being birthed out of hardship gives us something to hope for.
Come back next week to learn more about how COVID-19 is affecting food security and nutrition across the globe. To join us in addressing these issues visit worldrelief.org/covid-19.
Rachel Clair serves as a Content Writer at World Relief. With a background in creative writing and childrenâs ministry, she is passionate about helping people of all ages think creatively and love God with their hearts, souls and minds.
It Takes a Village
It was 3 p.m. on a Tuesday afternoon when we got the call. A woman in the Congolese community had contracted COVID-19 â the first of what would turn out to be many cases for the Congolese living in the Quad Cities area. My mind raced with questions as we worked to determine the best plan of action: Does her family have everything they need? Does she understand what the word quarantine means? How many people has she come in contact with? Can we help her while also keeping our teams safe and socially distant?
We were able to connect with her on the phone and talk through the things her doctor had told her. We tried to ease some of her fears regarding the sickness and hoped this would be an isolated incident. Unfortunately, the virus had already started to spread, and over the next several weeks, 60% of the Congolese community would contract COVID-19.
The last several months have been a whirlwind as weâve sought to manage all the unexpected challenges that have shown up in the face of this global pandemic. While our staff and volunteers have navigated their own challenges working from home, caring for kids and taking in the ever-changing and often confusing news cycle, our clients are even more confused than we are.
This situation is anything but ordinary. To have been forcibly displaced from your home is traumatic enough. But then to arrive in America only to face a pandemic and growing racial tensions can be shocking and isolating. Many of our clients have fled their home countries because of things like violence and ethnic and religious persecution. The events unfolding in America right now are fear-inducing for many refugees.
Similarly, most of our clients come from very high communal societies. Not being able to gather for worship, break bread together or visit a neighbor to help with child-rearing is a foreign and bizarre concept. Itâs culture shock on a whole new level, and itâs why our team is so committed to regularly checking in on our immigrant clients and innovating new virtual programs in the midst of this crisis.
At World Relief Quad Cities, we offer a number of different services including Citizenship Classes, Immigration Legal Services, English Language Programs, Youth Mentoring and a culturally appropriate food pantry (meaning that in addition to fresh fruits and vegetables found in most grocery stores, our food pantry also contains many of the staples our immigrant neighbors would have eaten in their home countries).
Prior to the arrival of COVID-19, all of these services were offered in-person. Closing our physical office in mid-March meant we had to make major adjustments to our service model so that our clients could still access the resources they needed and feel connected to their new community.
Our citizenship classes were put on hold, and our food pantry transformed into a drive-through service. The second Monday of every month, around 300 clients pull up outside our office and we hand them a bag of food through their car door. For clients without cars, we deliver the food directly to their homes.
Likewise, our English classes and youth mentoring programs have become a hybrid of online learning mixed with work packets that we put together and deliver to our clientâs homes. The packets include fun activities that families can do together to learn English. We send out new packets every two weeks, and we have been incredibly grateful for the ways our volunteers have stepped up to serve in these new ways.
These last three months have been a challenge I never imagined I would have to endure â working remotely alongside my husband who is also working remotely, trying to homeschool three kids while also making sure everything at World Relief Quad Cities stays on some sort of a normal schedule has been a lot to handle. But right alongside these challenges Iâve seen hope, strength, resilience and community rise up, and as a result, weâve been able to establish new partnerships that may not have happened without the forced need of COVID-19.
The Rock Island Health Department has come alongside us to develop COVID-19 messaging to help educate our immigrant communities. UnityPoint Health has partnered with us to assemble and distribute boxes of masks, gloves and cleaning supplies to our clients in need. Weâve collaborated with Community Health Care to organize a COVID-19 testing site, and weâve been awarded funds from organizations that have never donated to World Relief before. Those funds will allow us to reach more immigrant and refugee families with important COVID-19 information.
Thereâs an old Nigerian proverb that says, âIt takes a village to raise a child.â I think the same holds true for a non-profit organization like World Relief. It truly takes a whole community to support and serve the most vulnerable â especially in times like these when sickness and the realities of racism threaten the new foundation our immigrant neighbors are trying to build. The generosity weâve experienced throughout this pandemic has been nothing short of a miracle, and my hope is that refugees and other immigrants in our community experience it as a sign of love and welcome amidst the chaos.
Our church partners have been beyond generous, awarding us with grant money from their endowments and donating extra funds for the food pantry. We had a volunteer ask for bikes on social media and within two days we were able to deliver over 30 bikes to families in need of safe transportation. We also had a generous group of teachers from the Rock Island Head Start program gather money to purchase food for several of our families who recently lost loved ones in a tragic car accident.
As we move forward into a season of reopening and all of the unknowns that come with it, my hope is that morale remains high and our commitment to one another remains strong regardless of what comes our way. I pray that my team would know how valuable each of them are and how grateful I am for the unique contributions each of them brings. I pray our clients would know that we will be here with them through every step of this journey. And I pray that the church would rise up in its commitment to the most vulnerable, remembering that true greatness comes when we lower ourselves to lift others up.
Laura Fontaine is the Director of World Relief Quad Cities and has been working with World Relief since April 2018. Laura grew up in various countries throughout Eruope as an Army Brat, which ignited her passion for working with and serving people from different cultures. She went on to study abroad in London, conduct research on development and security in South Africa and teach diplomacy and economics at the college level in China. She holds a B.A. in International Relations and History, and an M.A. in International Security and Arms Control with an emphasis in Strategy.
Stories from the Border: Jose
Over the last few weeks the news has been filled with stories of whatâs happening at the U.S.-Mexico border. Many of these realities are not new to our U.S. offices, who regularly work with immigrants and asylum seekers. Our offices provide legal services and vital programming to hundreds holding onto hope for a better future. In this series, Stories from the Border, weâll be highlighting a few of these brave men and women, and their journey with World Relief.Â
Jose* was granted asylum in the U.S. after fleeing from Central America. When he first arrived at the local World Relief office in Spokane he was homeless, jobless and struggling to process past trauma and the reasons for leaving his home behind.
In just one year, Jose has learned English, began processing his past through Mental Health assistance, found community and support and was accepted into a year-long job training program.
Because of the World Relief staff, volunteers and church partners, Jose feels empowered to pursue his dream of having a stable and secure life here in the U.S.
Together weâre restoring hope and rebuilding lives for the millions fleeing persecution and violence in search of refuge.
*Name has been changed to protect Joseâs identity.
Dana North serves as the Marketing Manager at World Relief. With a background in graphic design and advertising and experiences in community development and transformation, Dana seeks to use the power of words and action to help create a better world. Dana is especially passionate about seeking justice for women and girls around the world.
Stories from the Border: Josef and Moses
Over the last few weeks the news has been filled with stories of whatâs happening at the U.S.-Mexico border. Many of these realities are not new to our U.S. offices, who regularly work with immigrants and asylum seekers. Our offices provide legal services and vital programming to hundreds holding onto hope for a better future. In this series, Stories from the Border, weâll be highlighting a few of these brave men and women, and their journey with World Relief.Â
Josef and Moses* are two young professionals who lived in a small African nation. They worked in government until a change in political leadership put a brutal new leader in power. Not long after the new regime took power, they learned that some of their colleagues and their family members had disappeared. Fearing for their lives and the lives of their own families, the two men fled, leaving behind their homes, belongings and, more importantly, their spouses and children.
Eventually, they ended up in Washington where a friend encouraged them to reach out to World Relief. They were connected to the pastor of an African church who provided them with support and hope. World Relief staff and volunteers helped the men navigate the complex legal process of asylum and transition their education and experience into marketable skills within the local economy.
Today, they are active in the community and looking toward a bright future.
Together weâre restoring hope and rebuilding lives for the millions fleeing persecution and violence in search of refuge.
*Names have been changed to protect the individualsâ identity
Dana North serves as the Marketing Manager at World Relief. With a background in graphic design and advertising and experiences in community development and transformation, Dana seeks to use the power of words and action to help create a better world. Dana is especially passionate about seeking justice for women and girls around the world.
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