I am always on the lookout for service projects for the kids and I. It’s surprisingly hard to find things kids can participate in. Too young to serve at soup kitchens, homeless shelter didn’t have much we could do (other than make holiday cards and goody bags like we’ve done the past 2 years), Children’s Shelter wasn’t a possibility due to their age and confidentiality issues, Meals on Wheels said no… again and again I hit dead ends. But then I found Canopy, and a woman responded to me on a homeschool FB page and said her cosponsor team could use more members, so I joined. Months ago.
Canopy NWA is a resettlement organization – they aid refugees in starting a new, safe, life here in the US. Most of their refugees are from Congo, but they come from all over the world. Except… about the time I joined, Wackjob was elected, and pretty much halted the process for refugees entering our country, so Team Emily was preparing for a family that would come – well – who knows when. Admittedly I didn’t help much with the pre-preparation, so kudos to the rest of the team that did all the legwork. The kids and I helped at a Canopy booth on the Bentonville square, raising awareness. They each wrote postcards to our reps advocating for refugee admittance. I mean, we aren’t even CLOSE to meeting our quota, when other countries are far beyond us in where they should be. And the first time I met our team leader, Kathleen, was when I stopped by her house to donate a few household items for her to store for our potential family.
Then – the team got news we were getting a young woman! But – that fell through. So – wait more. THEN – we got news that a family was coming! A family of four, the Mukamutsinzi family – Odette, and three kids: Christian (21), Sahunkuye (AKA Joseph – 17), and Gihozo (AKA Josepha – 6). They were coming!! MY kids were SO excited to help. And so excited there was a child!
A week before their arrival, I helped clean out the apartment one morning. They arrived in XNA on a Wednesday night at 10:45 p. No way were the kids missing this! They insisted I wake them to take them to meet our new family! They made signs to welcome them.
I thought I’d never shake them awake! But then they perked up.
Waiting…
Their arrival…
Welcoming committee…
Seeing them off for the night…
All settled into their new home!
Can you imagine arriving in a country like America after living in a refugee camp for 18 years? Odette is from Rwanda, but had been in a camp in Malawi for 18 years. Christian is only 21… Joseph 17, and Gihozo 6, so the camp is really all the kids have known! Odette has an older daughter who is at University in Canada! It takes a lot to start from scratch.
Charley and I, along with Nan, took them to Walmart to get some clothes. Odette wanted me to take a photo of Gihozo all strapped into Reed’s car seat.
The girls bonded instantly.
Gihozo found Reed’s sunglasses in the car and immediately put them on, so I had to get her her own pair.
Next up – the kids and visited them at their apartment to make dinner for them while Michelle showed them how to do laundry. We took some games to play too, and discovered Joseph is quite an artist! He did a portrait of Reed.
The last time we saw them, we took them grocery shopping, along with Michelle.
Here is a great video someone took of their first experience of snow! So cute!
Anyway – it has been quite the experience, and we look forward to continuing this journey with our family. Charley’s girl scout troop is making soups to deliver to them later this month, along with recipes – they are having to learn how to cook completely differently (ask me to tell you the toaster story!). And Odette texted me the other day just to check in, because she hadn’t seen us in a while. So sweet!
If you are interested in knowing more about Canopy:
And, one of our team members has assembled a “Wish List” for them for Christmas through Amazon. If anyone has a desire to look it over and maybe get something to make their first happy Christmas in America, here it is too:
https://www.amazon.com/registry/wishlist/2P10CPLBZDEQU/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_ep_ws_LozbCbX1N3SZ3
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