May 2012
2 posts
in·te·gra·tion — noun
1. an act or instance of combining into an integral whole.
So, What Does Integration Look Like?
Good question. And it’s one that TRP has been on journey in understanding for almost 9 years now. Depending on who you are, this word could carry with it some negative connotations. It certainly did not leave a favorable taste in the mouths of many who lived in...
in·te·gra·tion
noun
1. an act or instance of combining into an integral whole.
So, What Does Integration Look Like?
Good question. And it’s one that TRP has been on journey in understanding for almost 9 years now. Depending on who you are, this word could carry with it some negative connotations. It certainly did not leave a favorable taste in the mouths of many who lived in the...
March 2012
1 post
February 2012
3 posts
All I Receive from Teaching & Giving
My experience with refugees, in particular the Burmese, has been an amazing gift. My efforts have ranged from being a classroom buddy for several elementary school kids, to organizing a “kitchen garden project,” to teaching English to a group of adults.
Unfortunately, along this trail I hear people say “they never show up on time,” or “I give them something and it disappears.” Sometimes I hear,...
Heroes, Black History & Refugees
Imagine a society where there are no heroes.
A place and time where there are no stories of people who have endured, fought, or risen above injustice.
It’s hard for me to imagine a society like this. I grew up hearing and learning about all kinds of people and movements in our history that stood for or against all sorts of things. It seems natural to consider that people should and do have a...
This post is written by a dear friend, Lisa...
Penelakut Island. When spoken, those two words immediately take us 16 short-term trip participants far away to a place where two cultures connected profoundly and lovingly this past summer.
Prior to our departure to the 8-square kilometer island off the coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, our team trained and prayed. Our Frontline missionaries, who left...
December 2011
1 post
Burmese refugee integration course at IPFW:...
Just over a year ago, Adam Dirksen and I met with Kristie and Angie over a coffee to discuss how the Reclamation Project could contribute to our class at IPFW exploring Burmese refugee integration in Fort Wayne. Throughout the following winter semester, 17 students had the opportunity to meet with a wide variety of international, national, and local refugee actors in the classroom to explore the...
November 2011
3 posts
“Let us touch the dying, the poor, the lonely and the unwanted according to the...”
– Mother Teresa
“the times - they are a-changin’”
Figure 1 Fall leaves of Huntington, IN by Garrett Martin
People like to say, “the times - they are a-changin’.” They get that from Bob Dylan’s song of the same title. The lyrics of the song remind us that there are things changing all around us. Dylan concludes with a recommendation: “Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone. For the times they are a-changin’”
There is a...
An International Language
Last Wednesday I attended a “house warming” party for five refugee families. The party was hosted by the Circle of Friends who have chosen to come alongside these Congolese families. I have to say, the party was the most invigorating house warming I’ve ever been part of. We sang, danced a little, prayed, and ate, of course—very American cupcakes and snacks. I learned,...
September 2011
2 posts
Relationships
I was thinking the other day of all of the relationships that have been made, and I suppose broken in that theater we all love. I know my life would have been on a completely different course had I not walked through the doors to volunteer to scrape plaster off of the gallery walls. Thinking back, some of my most memorable relationships got their spark inside the walls of the Rialto.
There was...
The American dream, with a Bantu twist.
Several years ago, through another family in our church, we heard about the need of refugee families in our community for housing. Many of these refugees were Somali Bantus who were living in Centlivre Apartments. At some point, the apartment management decided there were too many refugees and too many headaches with these new arrivals and wanted them to move on. Late rent payments and other...
August 2011
5 posts
It’s called an escalator
Last Christmas I was looking for a slice of Americana to share with our Burmese family when I heard the ad for the Christmas Village display by Habitat for Humanity. It was free, seasonal, and simple, which were the criteria for our next group outing. We reserved the church bus and the volunteer driver who is always ready for an outing that involves the smiling faces of our Burmese friends. We...
Unprofitable Living?
The idea of striving to be unprofitable sounds ridiculous. When we hear the word unprofitable, it’s always a negative. It’s certainly not a state that anyone would desire to achieve.
Several years ago I participated in a volunteer activity at work. Shortly after the event, I received a “Certificate of Appreciation” in the mail. I felt offended by it but I didn’t really know why. As I tossed it...
my future déjà vu
When I walked through the door of the apartment and saw the activity around me, I honestly had a moment of realization – a déjà vu of the future, that this would be my life if I made it into the Peace Corps. There was a tinge of inspiration in that realization, but that tinge was far overshadowed by the emotion that I now recognize as an integral part of any very-first-time-teaching experience: ...
what defines a refugee?
(originally posted Sept 2, 2008, by Stephanie Struck)
in my last entry, i defined the word refugee for you. but i told you it was not a word study, but a people study. if this is a people study, then what defines a refugee in people terms? i suggest a refugee is defined by his or her courage, heart, dreams, and the way he or she uses their past to build a future. many of you have probably...
Thank You, Rose
A great turnout last night to watch the film Pushing the Elephant. Rose Mapendo, thank you for sharing your story. Thank you for awakening our hearts to the suffering that so many have endured. Your life and story is an inspiration that begs us to consider what sacrifices we will make on behalf of others.
Continue to follow the Race for Congo @ www.raceforcongo.tumblr.com
-a
July 2011
3 posts
Movie Night for Congo Support
A film by Beth Davenport & Elizabeth Mandel ~In the late 1990s, Rose Mapendo lost her family and home to the violence that engulfed the Democratic Republic of Congo. She emerged advocating forgiveness and reconciliation. In a country where ethnic violence has created seemingly irreparable rifts among Tutsis, Hutus and other Congolese, this remarkable woman is a vital voice in her...
ENL Summer Series Training →
If you teach, or want to teach, English as a New Language, join us for this training series July 18-22, 2011. Click above to learn more and to register.
When He Took out His Palette
I drove downtown near the Rialto the other day and watched as expansive courts and boulevards slowly shrunk into city streets and alleyways; where despite narrow passageways, a colorful berth opened big and wide with the acceptance of varying pigments of skin. South Calhoun Street, in particular, is so diverse at times that you could easily imagine being placed in some type of incubator for a...
June 2011
3 posts
Last year I taught an ENL class ....
Last year I taught an ‘English as a New Language’ (‘ENL’) class through The Reclamation Project (‘TRP’) in the home of a Burmese family. The students who came to the class had been in American anywhere from several months to nine years. When I taught lessons that required them to use their address or to request emergency help on the telephone, either they couldn’t provide the information or were...
Now What Did We Do Exactly?
I wonder how many of you can relate to the feeling of “what do I have to show for all this energy I’ve just spent and the work that I’ve done!?” Earlier this year I was feeling just that. We had just completed 2 ½ years’ work on a federal ORR grant with a variety of partners. It certainly felt like it kept us busy, and I was pretty sure we had accomplished at least a few things. But, after having...
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
May 2011
1 post
Burma Soldier Premiere on HBO 2
Please join us in supporting Myo Myint, a dear friend of The Reclamation Project. If you have HBO access, we would encourage you to watch a documentary of Myo’s story (scheduled times to the right). Myo is a committed member of the Fort Wayne community who works tirelessly to help families from Burma that have been granted refuge and freedom in the United States. His commitment to others...
April 2011
2 posts
TRP Program Highlight - Circle of Friends
TRP’s core programming niche is volunteer engagement that facilitates community development. Our focus is to provide training and opportunity for volunteers to experience friendship and association with local refugee populations (and vice versa) in a way that promotes successful, positive integration and bridge building with a...
National Volunteer Week -- April 10 - 16, 2011
In recognition of National Volunteer Week, The Reclamation Project would like to extend a HUGE “thank you” to all our amazing volunteers! There are so many individuals who freely give of their time and energy to touch the lives of the neediest in our city. It is because of YOU that our refugees friends, who once lived in the midst of fear and persecution, are now finding safety,...
March 2011
2 posts
“What is the use of living if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make...”
– Winston Churchill
February 2011
1 post
Just Keep Swimming...
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about a few random things. Yet it seems they strangely revolve around a common theme. Maybe it’s just my mind buying into the idea that they are all related in some significant way. Regardless, I find myself contemplating the notion that maybe there’s something significant to this apparent theme which is swimming through my thoughts as of late.
With a new year, of...
January 2011
3 posts
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice...”
– Isaiah 58:6-7;10
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the...”
– Bishop Desmond Tutu
“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines...”
– Martin Luther King, Jr
November 2010
2 posts
Thankful?
Recently, earlier this month, my 8 year old son stated that he thought we must be the only family in the whole city that celebrates Thanksgiving. I thought this was an odd statement. What would give him that idea? Apparently he felt like everyone was skipping Thanksgiving because so many Christmas decorations were up around town and in stores already. Even one of the MSN online news headlines read...
Williams Woodland Park Holiday Home Tour .... You...
Here’s a fun opportunity to help support The Reclamation Project!
The Williams Woodland Park Holiday Home Tour
December 4 & 5, 2010, Sat. 5-9pm; Sun. 1-5pm
Parking at 2500 S. Calhoun Street
Again this year, 20% of profits from the annual Williams Woodland Park Holiday Home Tour will be donated to The Reclamation Project (TRP). The Rialto is home to TRP and is the south...
October 2010
4 posts
Different Colors and Creeds Side by Side
I DROVE DOWNTOWN NEAR THE RIALTO THE OTHER DAY AND WATCHED AS EXPANSIVE COURTS AND BOULEVARDS SLOWLY SHRUNK INTO CITY STREETS AND ALLEYWAYS; WHERE DESPITE NARROW PASSAGEWAYS, A COLORFUL BERTH OPENED BIG AND WIDE WITH THE ACCEPTANCE OF VARYING PIGMENTS OF SKIN. SOUTH CALHOUN STREET, IN PARTICULAR, IS SO DIVERSE AT TIMES THAT YOU COULD EASILY IMAGINE BEING PLACED IN SOME TYPE OF INCUBATOR FOR A...
“I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of...”
– Martin Luther King, Jr
“Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the...”
– Corrie Ten Boom
“Only a life lived for others is a life worth while.”
– Albert Einstein
August 2010
1 post
Book Review of "Outcasts United"
Encounter the culture clash that is Outcasts United, including a 31-year-old Jordanian and coach, an Atlanta suburb, and dozens of refugee boys who have a passion for soccer.
Warren St. John’s tale shows the intangible, unexplainable bond created between a single woman trying to prove her independence and her rag-tag team of boys just trying to survive day-to-day life in America. After tearing...
July 2010
8 posts
“Many people mistake our work for our vocation. Our vocation is the love of...”
– Mother Teresa
Freedom isn't Free
I’ve grown very tired of everyone saying freedom isn’t free.
The reason is, well, it’s because I don’t know where it came from and quite frankly, I think that some guy named Sal could be responsible, like maybe he started the whole thing after one too many beers at a 4th of July picnic a few years back and all of a sudden it’s become our unofficial national freedom slogan...
Sound too crazy to believe?
Imagine a rogue military unit sweeping in from Ohio and occupying Fort Wayne (if not Fort Wayne, insert your city here). This unit seizes control of the city in every way possible. Laws are ignored. The federal government looks the other way. Soon, the leaders give instructions to start “cleansing” the area of Hoosiers and anyone who is not a native Buckeye. Men are killed, women are...
Book Review of "Human Cargo"
If you want to remain in your comfort zone, do not read Caroline Moorehead’s Human Cargo. A harrowing compilation of stories of people stuck between a home they can never return to and a home that will not accept them, Human Cargo is painful, provoking, and absolutely eye opening. Meet Mercy, a young Liberian woman who clung to jagged rocks for four hours, watching her sister be swept away with...
“Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a...”
– Mother Teresa
June 2010
1 post
"Near", "Far"
I have always been a fan of Sesame Street. There are many reasons why, including the creative genious of Jim Henson and company, the warm fuzzies that the cuddly monsters give you even beyond childhood, and the way that everyone on the block seems to care about each other and help their next door neighbor. I always thought I’d like to live on Sesame Street and have neighbors just like...
April 2010
2 posts
“Justice and Mercy are always dancing together. You can’t have one without...”
– John Perkins
Ever Evolving
We at TRP, Inc., are ever evolving to be on mission in more efficient and effective ways. This site will keep you more connected and informed of our ongoing efforts. Thanks for your continued interest and support!