Refugee Rights United States Project #6949

Bridge to Self Reliance 2000 refugees San Diego CA

by Episcopal Refugee Network of San Diego

Project Report | Oct 8, 2014
Success Measured in Surprising Ways

By Elaine McLevie | Project Leader

Karen mother and child

Last month, two refugee families each asked for beds. They did not know each other, for each had lived in a different area of San Diego County for the past five or six years.

Among those refugees who have lived in camps for many years before being brought to the United States, sleeping in a bed is often seen more as a danger than as a necessity,or a luxury; and sheets are not envisaged as a normal additions to a blanket on a bare mattress on the floor. For these refugees, sheets and pillow cases are among the first new items that become "normal", but they also present difficulties, because they cannot be washed and dried conveniently, indoors. There are rules at almost all apartment complexes that washing cannot be dried outside. Most low-income apartment buildings do not have laundry facilities, and even those that do, have machines that eat large numbers of quarters before sheets can return to the bed.

We also discovered that since a white sheet for covering a dead body IS something familiar for them, some of the refugees ask for colored sheets only, to sleep between.

So when a family that has been here for five or six years asks for beds, that is a reason to rejoice and to scurry round and find them. Their request represents a resurgence of hope - a recognition that by working more than one job, or having several members holding jobs, a family does have the means to become self-sufficient. With a down payment saved, they can move into a larger apartment, where there is room for beds. Then they can see themselves as capable of saving for items that will make their life more comfortable, and a future where each family member can be successful. Beds, a more comfortable couch, perhaps matching sheets and pillow cases - these are small signs that these families have truly begun the climb upwards towards self-sufficiency.

Your interest in the work of the Episcopal Refugee Network, and your donations, have made it possible for our staff to be there for these families, to recognize and nurture these early steps. With your help, every family that is able to see itself as beginning to succeed becomes a beacon to many other families. Two families asked for beds in September. Can we make that 6 families in October?

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Jul 9, 2014
A Gift of Independence

By Elaine McLevie | Project Leader

Karen refugees in City Heights San Diego

He was struggling to urge his wheelchair across the room to a spot where he could join an informational meeting for Karen refugees arranged by the Network. That was what caught the eye of one of our staff members. He spoke with sadness of the day when he was forced to walk ahead of soldiers, who were clearing land mines near his home village, and lost his legs when he stepped on one. He shared his feelings of depression at not being able to get out and about, as he could not get his wheelchair to move with ease. A ray of hope flashed for a moment in his eyes, as a staff member promised to get him a wheelchair that worked, and flared to excitement when we delivered it to him two days later.

The next time we saw him he was with a group of Karen refugees at a special forum at the University of San Diego, sitting in his wheelchair, wearing his colorful festive Karen sarong and headband, and chatting animatedly with other people gathered there.

When staff or volunteers meet families in their homes, or arrive with a load of food at an apartment complex, they also have opportunities to talk with refugees about needs they have no way of addressing. In many cases the families are unaware that solutions to their problems can be found. The young man in today's photo has just received a letter which he needs help reading and responding to. He is about to hand it to a staff member, who will talk to him about its contents and arrange for any appointments it says are necessary, as well as making sure that any access problems are identified and corrected. There is no elevator in that appartment building, and the sidewalk does not look very smooth!

It is at times like these that we also hear about other members of a refugee's extended family, or a friend, perhaps living somewhere else in San Diego county, about whom the speaker is concerned. Problems big and small that we solve together, change from stumbling blocks to stepping stones. The transformations, especially from depression at what seems unsurmountable, to elation at having found ways of dealing with a situation, are very exciting.

A big "Thanks!" is due to all of you who donate to our project. You are the catalysts in a process that truly lifts spirits and changes lives.

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Mar 31, 2014
A special Ray of Hope

By Elaine McLevie | Project Leader

With Grandfather's brother

She was lying in her mother's arms, the center of attention, love and awe. For family members and Refugee Network volunteers alike, there was an almost electrical feeling in the air. Here she was, the first baby born in San Diego to a Bhutanese refugee family.

It is the children among the refugees who give the adults a reason to hope for the future, and a reason to undertake sometimes Herculean efforts to "make it" in their new homeland, so that those children will succeed. This baby is already that hope for the 20 Bhutanese families here.

The children are also a critical component in helping adult refugees learn English and understand some of the ways this society works. It is often through children who come to our tutoring programs or whom our outreach workers encounter, that we are made aware of special needs or concerns we need to address. For example, when we discovered that three children had not been attending school, we found that their single mother had been sick, and had not been able to drive them there. We also found that her car was no longer working. Network staff and volunteers provided food and transport, repaired the car, gave special tutoring to the children to catch them up in their lost weeks of schooling, and continued to help the mother.

The Refugee Network reaches out especially to those refugees who, for whatever reason are in special need, and do not know where to turn. That is more than two hundred families at any given time, touching the lives of more than 4,000 individuals in any year, of whom over 2,500 are children and over 800 are young adults. In 2013 your donations through Global Giving provided help like the example above to 23 familes from 5 different ethnic groups. That is awsome! Please continue to let others know about our project and what drew you to support it. We would love to have your input on what we could do to spread the word about how a little help at a critical time keeps hope alive. That makes a huge difference.

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