Driving through a suburb of Atlanta I expected to see the normal cookie-cutter style American families walking their dog. What I didn’t expect to see was a woman from the Democratic Republic of the Congo wrapped in a printed garment walk across the road or see a Bhutanese man sitting on the steps of an apartment. This is exactly what I witnessed driving through Clarkston, GA. The small town is home to a large population of refugees from many different nations. Each has his or her own story of fleeing areas that were involved in religious conflict or violent injustice. They came to America for a better life, one that would be safe for their children.
"Over the past decade, Clarkston, a former railroad town outside of Atlanta, has been transformed into the Ellis Island of the South for refugees from every corner of the globe. It is estimated that 1 in 3 of Clarkston’s residents are immigrants and over sixty languages are now spoken in this small Southern town. Refugees come to Clarkston from a myriad of cultures suffering the effects of protracted civil wars and massive human suffering: Somalia, Sudan, Burma, Bosnia, Iraq, Vietnam, and Afghanistan just to name a few. Over 71% of the refugees in Clarkston are female, and all of those, as implied by their refugee status, are survivors of civil conflict, war, trauma, rape and/or genocide." –Photos and excerpt by Bryan Meltz, December 15, 2011
There are a variety of organizations and national programs that focus on helping refugees settle into life in America, but often times their emotional and spiritual needs are over looked. These people have experienced some traumatic events. Some of them still have wounds that need healing. They have lost family. They have been beaten. They have lost a part of themselves by leaving their home nation. They are brokenhearted. They feel forgotten.
How can you give hope to someone who has been through so much? The answer is simpler than you may think.
You can give a mother a break from taking care of her child by helping put on a VBS. You can help a child learn how to count in English. You can listen to someone's story. You can help a kid just be a kid by playing soccer or football with them. You can help someone feel welcomed by cooking them a meal. You can let someone know they are not forgotten by simply letting them know they existence. Most importantly though, you can let someone know they are loved.
You can give a mother a break from taking care of her child by helping put on a VBS. You can help a child learn how to count in English. You can listen to someone's story. You can help a kid just be a kid by playing soccer or football with them. You can help someone feel welcomed by cooking them a meal. You can let someone know they are not forgotten by simply letting them know they existence. Most importantly though, you can let someone know they are loved.
So will you take a week out of your summer, to show someone they are loved? I hope you will.
Visit our Atlanta Info page to apply for one of our summer trips.
