Day: April 11, 2018

It is hard to capture the richness of the RISSE and the children who bring their smiles and trust and love there. The headbands and scarves and earrings and piercings, as I watched today, Teacher Emma joined three girls – one from Syria, one from Afghanistan, one from Africa, the treasure of the melting pot, they were all reaching out to gather their beads, one by one, to make bracelets for themselves and their mothers and sisters.

The bead box, one of a dozen sent by the people reading this, sat like a treasure box at the center of the new table as they gathered in the new soft blue chairs. The picture showed the pureness of trust and creativity, it came from a place of generosity and love.

This is why we are here, I think, to feel like this, to do things like this, to reach about the hatred and anger and greed and selfishness that is so sadly an integral part of being human. We can be better than that, we can do better than that.

Just look at this mystical table and the feeling around it. I am grateful to be alive and feel this warmth and goodness. I am grateful for the gift of it, and for the community forming behind and around it. These children are seeing the night, and embracing the hope for their future.

I think that’s why I am here, right there, soaking up the magic f that bead box.

In many ways, Ali is a spirit person. He is all about love and honor. The children at RISSE adore him, he is technically a van driver, he takes the children to and from RISSE and their homes and their public schools. Children line up to hug him and talk to him, he is a father, a teacher, a coach and a friend.

He knows why he was put on the earth – to do good for children, and he reminds me why I was put on the earth, although it took me a long time to figure out what Ali, in his early 30s, already knows.

Shkrullah is  from Afghanistan, and his story is too awful and too dangerous for me to share. It would break your heart.

He is, in a sense, why i am here also, although my work is more indirect and in the background than Ali’s. He has a big body and a big and inexhaustible heart.

These are good people, deserving of support and encouragement, not hatred, taunting and demonization. These are not rapists or terrorists, they are people just like us, caught in a  terrible whirlwind. I am her to help them, just as Ali has devoted his life to helping these children.

I could not survive a day doing what he does. I am here to do good, that is my faith, that is my challenge and promise. This realization was born out of the cruel and angry times in which we live, the refugees, long the beneficiaries of American generosity and openness, are alone now, on their own.

Many people in our country no longer wish to keep this American dream alive, to me it is the most patriotic thing I could possible be supporting.

In part, this is why I am here, to do this work. The need is very great, this is the work of the heart and soul.

I cannot, of course, do it alone. A great army of simple and good people has risen up to support this work, they call themselves the Army Of Good. If you wish to support this work, you can do so by sending a contribution to The Gus Fund, c/o Jon Katz. P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816 or via Paypal, [email protected].

And please consider supporting the new Tutoring Fund, we are seeking a few hundred dollars to pay for private English language tutoring for six members of the RISSE soccer team, all relatively new to America, and in need of one-on-one teaching help. We are talking to graduate college students who will work for free or for $10 an hour.

It was a particular joy to see Emma and her bead class, making bracelets with the spools and beads  you bought for them through the RISSE Amazon Wish List.

The RISSE children are loving these beads and working hard to make necklaces and bracelets for themselves and their families. You have changed the atmosphere of the school so much. The kids love these bean bag chairs you bought. They love the table you bought and the beads you bought.

They will, I am sure, love the posters you bought for the walls. What a gift to be able to bring such joy and creativity to these children. Three weeks ago, the room was bare, there was nothing in it but some used books in a bookshelf. There was no light, and no place to sit.

It’s a different world there now – games, puzzles, arts and crafts, music and painting, drawing and photography. Thanks so much.

(You can contribute to this work by sending a contribution to The Gus Fund, c/o Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816 or via Paypal, [email protected] You  are angels, thank ou.)

Ehdiesoe is 14, he is a member of the RISSE soccer  team, and he is now in a special Albany school for refugees. He has been held back a year and hopes to graduate and go on to high school next year. But he is struggling to learn English and I am seeking to raise a small amount of money to arrange for private tutoring for him from graduate students at St. Rose College, just down the block from RISSE in Albany.

I have a plan for helping six members of the RISSE soccer team who urgently need some one-on-one tutoring.

I hoping to raise enough money for  Ehdiesoe, to get a private tutor for $10 an hour, one hour a week. Ali has identified six members of the soccer team that need this tutoring to improve their English speaking and language skills. Like Ehdiesoe, these children have only been in the United States a short time, and English is rarely spoken at home.

They need help to progress through the public school system and on to college. This is an inexpensive but profoundly important way for us to help them adjust to their new country, they are our brothers and sisters. There are no longer federal funds available to help with literacy and language programs or tuition support.

I am speaking with St. Rose officials in Albany and hope to negotiate a structured tutoring plan for these six children. I will be taking photos of them one at a time. Ehdiesoe came to America as an immigrant, not a refugee, his father became ill shortly after arriving in the United States and could not walk for six months.

I think this tutoring plan could be a godsend for Ehdiesoe and five other members of the RISSE soccer team. You can help – I think I can do this for just a few hundred dollars – by sending a contribution to The Gus Fund, c/o Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 2816 or via me at Paypal, [email protected]

Thank you so much.

Farkhonda is Farmaz’s big sister (see below), she is from Afghanistan, she keeps a close and loving eye on her brother, both in public school and the RISSE after school. She is not as shy as Farmaz, she speaks up and has a lot personality. Several people at RISSE have told me she loves to sing, and has become an accomplished singer.

We try hard to encourage creativity as well as learning in the work we are doing with the refugee children. I purchased a Bonaok Wireless Microphone for her to record her singing and play it back, it cost $30. Creative tools are not toys to me, they are the keys to imagination and voice, they can change lives.

I’ll bring Farkhonda hers next week. We are making impossible dreams come true. For many of us, this is a small gift for our children, but it is something far beyond the rich of Farkhonda’s family. Thanks again. The Gus Fund, c/o Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. I asked if she will sing for us when she’s ready.