Grocery Shopping and House Discussion
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 part of this is due to the experience of our co-chairpersons as well as the nature of this resettlement.
Today Bryn took the family grocery shopping again. With a family of 8 and storage space shared with other families, they can’t get too much at once. The family really enjoys shopping at the Asian food store even though there’s a typical grocery store nearby. With another $80 or so spent, we’ve kicked in nearly $500 in the past week. Considering the number of people in the family, that’s not too bad.
Bryn showed the family a picture of “their” house today. They did not have a strong reaction, but Bryn senses an eagerness to get into their own place. They asked if other Karenni people would live near them. Unfortunately the answer is no, but many other Burmese and Karen live just a few blocks away.
They will visit the house in person on Friday and sign the lease. Then, if all goes well, they’ll be able to move in about a week later.
The house is already clean and ready to move in – except for one thing. There is a free standing metal wood burning stove in the living room that needs to be removed. The stove, and the brick platform it’s on, should come out to make more floor space in the living room as well as to help avoid problems in the future.
Our refugee team will assist with the removal to help accelerate the move-in process.
