Day 20 One of our co-chairs and her husband went to the family’s house twice today. First she returned some bedding that she had taken home to wash, and she picked up more blankets to launder later. Yesterday we believed that the wash machine in the house did not work. Today the consensus is that […]
Day 19 I really enjoy move-in day. Actually this is one of my favorite parts of the entire refugee resettlement process. Picking up at the airport is my other favorite time. To me these are the big transitional moments. So, move-in day… We arrived at the temporary housing (their relative’s apartment) at about 9:20 this morning. […]
Day 18 The big news today is that we were finally able to get an intake appointment for food and medical assistance! This will happen next week in a 4 hour-long meeting. For an average American family going through this process it is expected to be a 2.5 hour meeting. Throw in an interpreter and […]
Day 17 Yesterday provided the first notice from the Social Security Administration. We received notice that they were processing the applications for the youngest two children. Isn’t that great? Those that need it least are being processed! Well, with that prelude, we are nearly shocked into unconsciousness today. The social security card, yeah the actual […]
Day 16 This is the first chance we’ve had to get the resettlement team back together since the family arrived just over two weeks ago. Even so, we had only a total of 6 people available for the meeting. We’d usually hope for more, but things are moving forward pretty good, so a small core […]
Days 12 to 14 I’m putting several days together as our main activity this week has been the organization of donated goods for the upcoming “move-in-day”. The majority of the household furnishings are being generously provided by members at our church. Friends of members as well as other community contacts round out the donation pool. The […]
Day 11 The plan and reality did not quite mesh today. There is a great lesson in this. Every refugee family is led by at least one adult. Adults are allowed to make their own decisions. What happened, you ask? The intention for today was to get the family out to sign a lease for […]
Here’s some background information on the refugee camps in Thailand for the displaced people of Burma, www.tbbc.org. The Burmese refugees that are settled in our community come from the Mae La, Umpiem Mai, Nu Po, Tham Hin, and Ban Mai Nai Soi camp. Things still moving forward, but slowly so I have combined two days […]
Day 8 When I started this blog I expected to be writing about a lot of good details. Afterall, the refugee resettlement process normally starts with a flurry of activity, hundreds of volunteer hours in the first few weeks. It seems strange how relaxed we’ve been able to be this time around. I’m sure that […]
