World Relief

I am currently volunteering at World Relief. World Relief works in many different nations meeting the physical and spiritual needs of people all over the world.

Here in Jacksonville, World Relief works with refugees providing "vital assistance during the 'early days' after a family's arrival - helping them find accommodation, employment and adjust to American life. Above all, our church-centered ministries show hurting refugees that Christians care."

The main job I've been doing since January is teaching an English class to the new refugees. I teach four mornings a week and am enjoying it very much. The classes are unique because there are people from different nations with different levels of English, ranging from no English at all to a basic understanding of grammar and pronunciation. Never a dull moment.

In the last few weeks my classes have consisted of people from Myanmar (formerly Burma), Sudan, Somalia, Cuba, Russia, Belarus, Afghanistan, and Ethiopia.

This past Saturday we had a picnic to celebrate the upcoming World Refugee Day (June 20th). Below are some photos from the picnic:

Fatuma (from Ethiopia), me, and Cadicha (from Somalia)

World Refugee Day

June 20th is World Refugee Day.

In 2000, the United Nations General Assembly designated June 20th as World Refugee Day to recognize and celebrate the contribution of refugees throughout the world.

"Every year on June 20 the world honours the courage, resilience and strength of refugees. On this sixth anniversary of the United Nations-designated World Refugee Day, thousands of organisations in hundreds of countries will come together to focus global attention not only on the plight of refugees and the causes of their exile, but also on their determination and will to survive and on the contributions they make to their host communities."