Obeservations from Saturday's Refugee Meeting

Last Saturday we hosted nearly 50 people at our house for a refugee related meeting in our neighborhood. The meeting was put on by a combination of Catholic Charities, Sunnyvale Presbyterian church representatives (Melissa and Elsa) and the Rivermark Mom's group. The primary goal of the meeting was to introduce mothers and families in Rivermark to some of he refugees in order to see if there were English as a Second Language (ESL) volunteer tutors or employment opportunities for the refugee woman. Though the event was scheduled to run from 10-12 it actually went from 10-2 primarily due to the big turnout an enthusiasm of the attendees.

All in all the meeting was a success, ESL volunteers and job opportunities were identified for many of the woman. I helped by watching children and talking to the 3 other fathers who came to the event.

I made a few observations after the event that I thought I would write about. Specifically by observing the people and talking to the dad's I noticed two things: people are willing to help but just need a catalyst, and there are lots of 1st and 2nd generation immigrants or refugees here locally with a positive immigration experience and they want to give back.

Maybe it is general human nature or maybe just the area but one thing that I consistently see is a desire for people to help the refugees. The big thing for them is that they just don't know how or where to start. Additionally like everyone else in the valley they are pretty busy and are mainly looking for some small thing they can do to start. This is the great thing about what Melissa has been doing. She has been putting in the extra time to help identify the "small ways" that people can contribute and the sum is greater than the parts. By facilitating meetings like we had here on Friday nearly 30 people learned how they could help in some small way including provide employment in the form of mother's helps etc. This gives the refugee woman dignity and a form of self sufficiency that gets them on the way to settling here in the U.S.

The second thing I noticed this weekend was that many of the people in this area are 1st or 2nd generation immigrant or refugee. This gives them a feeling of a special bond to the current group of refugees no matter if they come from Burma, Somalia or Iraq. I think this is also a motivator to help and in fact one of the families who were here on Saturday have committed to giving a very generous an unsolicited donation to help the local cause.

This weekend was the kind of event that makes you feel good all over am I am glad we opened up our house to make it happen. It was one tiny step towards making a big difference. I am also extremely proud of Melissa for following her passion here and leading by example. She is providing the much needed catalyst and subsequently making a much bigger impact in these lives.

Finally I urge you to get involved in your passion, even in some small way.