6 days in.

I talk a lot about the volunteers but to be clear this whole thing is military operation.  We have now been background checked and cleared to be on the base for up to one year.  The Military is responsible for the housing, feeding and all the physical needs of the Afghan guests.  Volunteers like us are responsible for recreation.  Team Rubicon has taken on the huge responsibility of clothing our guests and receiving and sorting of all donations.  Team Rubicon is a national organization which serves communities by mobilizing veterans to continue their service by helping people prepare, respond, and recover from disasters.  They are a wonderful organization.

I may not have been clear about the barracks where the Afghans live.  The barracks are large open spaced  buildings, open from one end to the other.  They normally house members of the armed forces, mostly while training at Ft. McCoy.  The barracks are usually lined with bunk beds.  The bunks have been removed and have been replaced by 13,000 portable camping cots which were brought in by the Red Cross. It is common to see some of the cots outside.  I'm not sure if this is to make more room inside during the day, to give them a place to sit outside or maybe they bring them outside just to clean them off.  It is also common to see laundry hanging on railings, fences and even shrubbery.  

We are living in a house in Norwalk.  We are about 30 minutes from the base.  There are six of us here.  As I understand it, the GB Diocese pays for the house rental, who then bills the US Council of Catholic Bishops, who in turn will bill the Department of Defense.  The house is nice.  We have 4 bedrooms, two upstairs and two down. 

Each day we eat lunch at the Non Commissioned Officers Mess which is new and very nice.  Our meals are paid for by Catholic Charities.  The food is very good. 

We leave home every day by 8:15.  The day starts with a meeting on the base at 9:00.  The meeting is for all the volunteers, the interpreters and a group of women from the AUW.  AUW is a group of Asian university women. Like everyone else they were evacuated from Afghanistan and have ended up in Fort in McCoy. Many of them are highly educated and motivated. They were just existing at Fort McCoy so they have now volunteered to work with us in serving the Afghan guests.  They  volunteer like us and they also serve as interpreters. The actual interpreters are paid and are employed by the IRC.  Our 9:00 meeting group of about 50 -60 people, man three centers and two sewing centers.  This morning meeting is partly assignment designations, part motivational pep talk and part training.

The centers at which we work are divided into two parts. The first and larger portion is the children’s area. All the children seem to be 7-8 years old or younger.  The second half of the same building is utilized by mothers and very small children. We play with the children both inside and outside.  I have honed my skills at Jinga, building blocks, moom (play dough) every size puzzle, count four, jump rope (we use A-B-C instead of counting) frisbee, Soccer, hula hoop, coloring, painting, slime, kickball and…. well I’ll assume you get the picture.  It’s exhausting.   

   This post is too long and I want to get it posted tonight.  

Shaid behide (good night).

Ken and Cathy

At Fort McCoy

Things we have learned since arriving at Fort McCoy:

Food distribution to the "Guests" (Afgahns) is a gargantuan task.  There are 12,600 refugees living at Fort McCoy.  All their meals are prepared on a "to-go" basis.  It is very normal for a single member of the family carrying many, many meals back to the barracks.  That person may be in line for hours to get their meals.     

The barracks were built about a hundred years ago and most look to be two story white clapboard or sided buildings.  Each barracks was built to house 50 soldiers and each now houses 60 Afgahns.  The families living in them subdivide the open barracks by hanging sheets and blankets.

Our duties here are very simply - day care.  We help provide child recreation for a very large number of children while their parents are otherwise occupied.  The children speak almost no english, I speak almost no Dari which is fine because many of the children speak only Pashto.  The Center in which we work is about the size of a a three stall garage.   It is very common to have 100 children in the center at the same time.  I’ve been asking questions of our leaders to try to better understand why these children are so starved for affection, even from strangers.   

One of the heartwarming stories we heard was how Lands End, a Wisconsin Company, stepped up to provide 3500 winter coats and jackets. However it is not unusual to see a man walking down the street wearing blanket for warmth.  It's hard to tell if this because he doesn't have coat or if it's a cultural thing.   

We learned the Afghans that were evacuated before the suicide bomber at the airport blew himself up, were able to leave with luggage and bags of belongings.  Those who reached the airport after the bomb exploded couldn't take anything.   

Deep down we hope we are doing our part to help these poor souls who have endured more than we can ever imagine. However it's sometimes difficult to see the big picture when our days are filled with Playdough, water paints, jump ropes, hula hoops, countless games of Connect Four, soccer balls, blocks and matchbook cars.

Today a little boy returned a ball to me.  Trying my best at speaking Dari, I said, "Tashacour" (thank you), he replied, "no problem".   

The other good news is I’ve discovered 13,000 people who never heard my ice bowl story!  

Fort McCoy

Cathy and I have headed to Tomah Wisconsin. Many people think of Tomah as the Paris of the Midwest. Well, not many people think of it as the Paris of the Midwest but some do.  OK, nobody really thinks of it as the Paris of the Midwest but it is a pretty area of the state.

  

We are volunteering through the diocese to help with the Afghan refugees who are staying at Fort McCoy.  There are between 12,000 and 13,000 Afghans currently at Fort McCoy, over half of them are children.  Our assignment will be to work at the recreation centers taking care of the children while the parents are occupied elsewhere with legal matters and travel plans.

What we have learned so far is that Wisconsin will be accepting almost 400 refugees. Currently, the Green Bay diocese has welcomed 23.

While we are here we are staying at a rental home with three other volunteers. The home is being paid for by the USCCB.

 

We hope to update this blog during the next week or two. We probably will not be sharing it on social media. They are some people who don’t like the fact that the Afghans are here, some feel they have “jumped the line” as far as immigration is concerned.  Some people just don’t care and others may feel that we are grandstanding by keeping this blog.  After all, many people do much more than us on an everyday basis in our community. We will be sending out notices when this blog is updated to the people we think might be sincerely interested in what’s going on here. Until then, Salam Alaikum.

Ken and Cathy

Texas

Kathleen, Erin, Cathy and I have struggled as to how to communicate our recent experience.  We just returned from McAllen, Texas, after volunteering for seven days at the Humanitarian Respite Center.  We are trying to be sensitive that we not draw attention or adulation to ourselves.  However, we all feel strongly that we have a moral obligation to promote the tremendous work that the Center does.

In brief, the Respite Center assists families after they have spent 4-6 weeks traveling to the U.S. Border during a time when the daytime temperatures are over 100 degrees.  Typically they then spend an additional 3-7 days in one of four area detention centers.  They are vetted by immigration and upon their release, these young families arrive at the Respite Center.  If they ever had sleeping bags, ruck sacks, backpacks or purses at this point they have been confiscated - along with their belts and even their shoelaces.  These people, most with little children, arrive with absolutely nothing - nothing.

  

The Humanitarian Respite Center welcomes them (sometimes with applause), offers them safety, shelter, a shower, food, a mat upon which they can rest and a change of used clothing including, donated shoes, new socks and underwear.  If a medical person is available they can be seen.  There are also trained people who will help them get in contact with their sponsor and arrange transportation to their final destination.  Some will leave the same day, many spend the night on the mats or in chairs.

   

Please consider helping the Humanitarian Respite Center in McAllen, Texas.  Here is a link to their contact information:

Catholic Charities of the Rio Grande Valley

Checks:  Specify for the Humanitarian Respite Center

                700 N. Virginia de San Juan Blvd.

                San Juan, TX. 78589

Donations: Especially shoes, deodorant, small shampoos, leggings and belts

                    Humanitarian Respite Center 

                    115 S. 15th St.

                    McAllen, TX.  78501

Website:  financial donations can be made on this website

                  CatholicCharitiesRGV.org

                  Includes a link to Amazon to donate items

While unpacking donations one day I came across a note which read, "These clothes are donated in memory of my mother, Mary, who would be disgusted by the way we are treating people".   

First Impressions

First impression of the Humanitarian Respite Center:  What the place offers is amazing.  Immigrant families are welcomed, offered a shower, clothing, food, a place to rest in and assistance with transportation to their final destination.  Entire families walk in with nothing, no luggage, no backpack, nothing.  These are not people who are going on vacation - they are moving from their home countries for good and most of them have had their shoe laces and belts confiscated at the Detention Center. 

The organization is bizarre.  A woman showed us around for maybe 5 minutes.  She asked us to help with the distribution of clothing.  Twenty minutes later the 4 of us were In charge of the clothing area.  At 1:00 when we wanted to break for lunch the volunteer coordinator said great, there aren't a lot of people right now, we'll just shut it down until you get back.

The tasks are as varied as anyone could imagine.  On my way to the supply area (think a 90 degree, 2nd floor warehouse) to find hotel-style shampoos, I stopped to clean up after a little boy who was throwing up.  He had just gotten out of the detention center that day and while the center is air conditioned, it was 100 degrees outside.   There are stacks of gym type mats that the families unstack and sleep on.  If they happen to be in the shelter overnight, that's where they will stay.  We also provided hygiene items, shampoo, deodorant, toothbrushes, toothpaste but not soap.  There is liquid soap inside the showers.  We made a refrigerator full of sandwiches, ham, cheese and bread.  

I wish I spoke and understood Spanish.  I could not have been more impressed with Kathleen and Erin's ability to communicate.  At one point in the afternoon the coordinator asked Erin and me to bring a woman and her daughter to the airport (very much a rarity).  While we were gone Kathleen dealt with a medical emergency and Cathy sorted donated items, made sandwiches and worked the hygiene area, all with a smile on her face making people feel welcome and comfortable.

 Lastly, the whole organization seems very loosely run.  "Here is what needs to be done, ok see ya."  People donate stuff.  People show up wanting to help so they sort the donated stuff.  People need a change of clothing so we give them some of the donated stuff.  In it's most simplistic form, this is what the HRC does.  When we were homeless you gave me a place to rest, when I was hungry you fed me.  When I needed clothing, you clothed me.  God bless the people we met today from McAllen, Chicago, Vancouver, Washington, Austin and the nun who brought some of her students from New Jersey.

The Families

The Families,

   The families coming in the shelter have been on the road for an average of 4-6 weeks.  The high temperature here is always over 100 degrees.  In addition to their travel time they have been in the detention center for 3-7 days.  It is my understanding that there are four detention centers in this area.  All of them release the immigrants to the McAllen bus station.  At least one of the detention centers is a tent city.  If they had any possessions during their journey, they're gone by the time The Customs and Border Patrol agents drop them off at the bus station.  A volunteer from the respite center walks the families over to the center from the bus station which is across the street.  

    Before they are able to leave the detention center they are vetted by the US government.  The vetting process includes the immigrants having a sponsor to support them.  At this point they are released into the US to pursue their asylum claim.

   Upon entering the Respite Center they are welcomed (remember up until now they have been in a jail type setting).  Each family unit is given a welcome bag which includes individual tooth brushes, tooth paste, deodorant, comb and a small hand towel. They are told that the center is not a government organization and that the staff and volunteers are here to help them on their journey and that there are people here who will help them contact their sponsors.  If they want, their children can go to a play area while this registration process is going on.  They are offered shower facilities, food and a change of clothing including new underwear and socks.  At this point they have no belts and no shoelaces which were taken from them at the detention center  These people literally have nothing.  

   There are stacks of gym mats in the clothing area and people are free to put them on the cement floor and rest.  During the course of the day it is very common to see people sound asleep on the mats, individually or even families.  Today I walked past the area and as usual there was a group people  on the mats.  A woman was sleeping with a child between her bent knees and chin and two men were awake and reading bibles that were given to them at the welcome station.  It is very common to see nursing mothers in this area as well.  If they stay overnight, this is where they will sleep.  

    As a group, these people are exceedingly grateful and seemingly bone  tired.  If the Center can arrange for their transportation with their sponsor, the ideal is to have them leave the same day.  I don't think this happens too often but it's hard for me to tell.  

   Families are welcome to avail themselves to a free canteen-type area.  This area dispenses virtually every miscellaneous thing that the center offers, tissue, pieces of toilet paper (never whole rolls), shoelaces, crayons for the kids (they only get three), feminine hygiene, diapers, combs, shaving cream, razors, hair bands and Chapstick.  

Things I Want To Remember

Things I want to remember:

   The little girl named Samantha who ran up to Erin after Erin and I made an airport run. The little girl ran to Erin as we walked in the door, took her hand and brought her back to the play table where Erin had been playing games with her earlier.

   Meeting Alexander who started off the day as one of the immigrants to whom we gave clothes.  However he finished the day as a volunteer.  He, his pregnant wife and their little girl left Honduras after he saw a man beheaded with a machete.  

   Kathleen "talking down" a pregnant woman.  She was concerned because she had a history of high blood pressure and she was at the respite center all alone.  

  Sorting an Amazon Box and finding a card in the box which read, "This gift is given in honor of my mother, Mary, who would be disgusted by the way we are treating people".  

   Cathy gave a man a Rolaid.  He asked for a second for his little boy.  When she poured them out of the bottle, a third one rolled out and she gave him all three.   His eyes got wide and he repeated, Gracias, Gracias. Such gratitude for three Rolaids.   

   How the two sisters from Seattle decided to rearrange the racks in the warehouse.  If this is how you think it needs to be done - then let's do it that way.   We moved 1000 pounds of bags but the flow of the place worked better the new way.  

   There are never any size 28 men's pants.  Nobody in the US wears size 28.  

   Sister Mary Alice said 90% of the people use a coyote to get to the US border and most of the families travel for over a month before they are detained by the border patrol.  A coyote in it's most favorable light is a guide.  There have been coyotes who have abandoned whole groups of people in the middle of the desert.  Another job of the coyote is to pay the necessary bribes to the drug cartels.  The cartels run entire areas in which the immigrants must pass through.   

   On Friday Kathleen helped a woman and her son at breakfast.  Another woman with a  very small child wandered into the dining area without going through the line and just sat down at one of the tables.  When the little boy saw this exhausted woman, he got up from his table and gave her his own bowl of cereal.   These little, unseen acts of kindness makes anyone who is watching want to cry.  Kathleen helped the little boy get some more cereal.   

   On Friday in the warehouse, Chad, who was from Texas, came up to me and told me that his group gathered in prayer the previous night and held my family up in prayer.  'We thanked God for you and your family coming down to help.'  How does one react when someone tells you that?

   A group from Washington D.C.  Half of the group came from a synagogue and half from a Catholic Church.  They came into the center on a slower day so they washed down the gym mats upon which the families slept and rested.  It would be a fair assumption that this was the first time they had been washed in the three months the center has been open.  

   The thought that went through my head almost every day was, how bad does your life have to be to one day turn to your spouse and say, gather the kids, pack only what we can carry - we have to leave.  They know they might not get in and they know they don't even speak the language.  There was a man and his daughter in the center when we were there.  He was told that they had a better chance of being admitted if they split up.  He and his daughter made it through but they had still not heard from his wife and the other child.

   I've heard different variations of this: "nobody puts their child in a boat unless the boat is safer than the land and nobody puts their child in the water unless it's safer than the boat and nobody chooses to leave their home country for good unless you just can't stay there anymore." 

   We were told before we arrived that most of the people have been traumatized, either in their home country, during their journey or in the detention centers.  

   The Respite Center provides families a safe space but all of these people remain on their journey.  When they leave the center they are all given a large brown envelope which contains their documents allowing them to be in the country.  On the front of the envelope is stapled a single page stating "I do not speak English.  I am taking the XX pm. Bus to XXXX.  I am trying to get to (name of city).  Can you help me?"  As they walk out of the center they are given sandwiches, a few snacks and some bottled water.  Many of these young families still have multi-day bus trips ahead of them.    

   There is a large piece of art that is placed so that when a family walks into the building it's the first thing they see.  It says  Estamos contigo .  It means: we are with you.  It lets the families know that the people in the center are there to help but it also reminds the volunteers why we are there.  

   Each day can be a roller coaster of emotions.  One minute you read that the US government argued in court that the personal hygiene requirement standard for the detention center could be met by providing each family with one toothbrush.  The next minute you're in the warehouse of the center looking at fifteen cases of toothbrushes.  Many of them were sent by individuals in packs of one or two.  Five minutes later you find yourself wondering if the donations subside, how long before the toothbrushes are all gone.  At its peak the center was providing 7,000 toothbrushes per week.  

   If you choose to volunteer at the center, I may be setting you up for disappointment. There are few solemn or profound moments during the day.  Days are spent cleaning, sorting, giving out clothing, unpacking boxes and bags, serving food, making multiple trips to the upstairs warehouse, filling a refrigerator with simple sandwiches, handing out shoelaces, toilet paper, hair bands, razors, shaving cream and diapers.  The profoundness is when you're done and you think of the remarkable risk these young families have taken and you contemplate how they are doing now.  

   

Funny things I want to remember:

  The SUV index is 11.  Kathleen:  I didn't know the UV index went up to 11!

   Olive Garden:  After buying a microwaveable dinner Cathy thought it necessary to explain to me that microwaveable meant, "You can just put in the microwave and then warm it up".

    After leaving Cathy in the back seat of a running car (air conditioned) the three of us got back in and Cathy said, "I'm just glad nobody kidnapped me.  Anyone could have just gotten in the car and driven away with me in the backseat!'

    Kathleen could not get over that we can buy a case of water for three dollars.  In New York she's used to paying $2.50 for a single bottle on the street!

    I'll never understand how people donate high heels or a cocktail dress to a shelter.