Want to help refugees in Kansas City? August 27, 2008
Posted by Zack in Kansas, Missouri , trackbackThis post if for readers who live in the Kansas City area.
Elizabeth and I have gotten involved in the lives of this amazing group of refugees from Burma. They’re from a minority nationality from Burma who have been struggling for survival against all kinds of attacks by the Burmese state and army there for about 60 years. People from this nationality just started arriving in the U.S. two years ago. They have very little support. And almost no one speaks English yet. Most of these families have been living in refugee camps in Thailand for the last 10 years.
They’re really struggling here just to get jobs, make it to the doctor, get immunizations, enroll in school, get dental care for long-standing issues, learn to drive, fill out forms for basic assistance and housing, etc…
About 20 years ago, I hitched hiked through a part of South East Asia just a few hundred miles from where these folks come from, and where a related nationality lived. I’d wind up in a village near night fall, and the village would just get together and decide who would take care of me that night. A family would take me home, feed me, tell me stories (we all spoke about the same amount of Chinese), and give me the best mat in the house to sleep on. I was 18 years old and was so arrogant as to think that I should just be able to walk into villages and have people take care of me. They didn’t mind — they thought it was normal to put themselves out to take care of strangers, even when it could potentially get them in trouble with the government.
And so that’s part of why it’s breaking my heart seeing these families stuck in inadequate housing, with roaches crawling all over everything (not able to communicate with the landlord or pay for exterminators), without enough food half the time, and with hardly anyone lending a hand. But being around these families is an amazing thing. Watching them do church, whether you’re Christian or not, will blow you away. (They got totally missionized in the 1850’s, which is part of why they’re being driven out of Burma, and therefore why we owe them!) Watching them laugh and have a great time even as they’re getting beat up at school, going hungry at home, and being sick and stranded at home without transportation will blow you away too. They’re just awesome people. You should meet them if you live in Kansas City.
Anyone want to help meet some of these needs and get to know these families? Email us at help@revolutioninjesusland.com.
Tags: Kansas City, Refugees
Comments»
This summer I spent two and a half months working with Karen people from Burma (I’m assuming they’re the people group you’re referring to; if not, they’re in a very similar position to the people you mentioned) and it was a great experience. There’s a fantastic place in rural NE Georgia called Jubilee Partners that works with refugees being resettled into Atlanta. JP is a Christian service/intentional living community that started in 1979 as an outreach by Koinonia Farm (former home of Millard Fuller and Clarence Jordan and birthplace of Habitat for Humanity). Over the last 25+, Jubilee has hosted thousands of displaced refugees from Asia, Africa and South America, offering them home and hospitality for about two months while they take full-time English classes from JP partners and volunteers.
Teaching functional ESL to foriegn refugees was always a tall order, but even with everything we did for them it always saddened me that we couldn’t do more. The living conditions of the few resettled families I was able to visit in Atlanta were far from optimal, and the members of the family joining the workforce or attending school are faced with enormous challenges. It amazes me how the Karen, many of whom (as you mentioned) are Christian, show such stunning resiliance and hopefulness in the face of their trials.
Anyway, just wanted to let your readers know that there are Karen (and refugees of many other ethnicities and nationalities) in Atlanta and many other cities including Seattle, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Miami, Baltimore, Dallas and Boston. While the work Jubilee does is (as far as I know) unique, there are resettlement agencies around the country that would appreciate any kind of help you could offer. A good place to start looking might be the International Rescue Committee, an agency with no religious affiliation that has offices in all of the above-mentioned cities and more: www.theirc.org. Also, if anyone’s interested in working with refugees within the context of intentional Christian community Jubilee is a great place to spend a summer or a semester or more — free room and board for full-time volunteer work, which is a steal considering how much richer you’ll come away from it.
On a personal note, just want to say I’m a big fan of the blog. As a — well, as a member of whatever you call the movement that this blog focuses on — it’s great to have the perspective of an intelligent and gracious observer looking in from the outside. Keep up the good work!
That’s a beautiful backstory.
Shame there’s all the religion in this. I like helping people, but can’t handle missionaries.