The animals sense Spring coming before we do, and they simply eliminate the winter from their consciousness, a valuable trick if you can do it. Today, the barn cats took up their sun/Spring positions and just luxuriated on the porch. Flo stayed out last night to hunt, even though it was pretty cold.
Minnie found a good sun spot and soaked up the rays. These two spat often but mostly co-exist. It was nice to see this, it warmed up my insides as well.
Our support of the RISSE Soccer Team (a/k/a Bedlam Farm Warriors) paid off big-time this weekend, the refugee team scored a record-breaking victory – 15-0 – in the second round of the Session Three Indoor Soccer Tournament at the Sportsplex Arena in Half Moon, New York.
It was the biggest victory ever scored in a single game there, and this on a very good team that defeated them just a couple of weeks ago.
There are seven more games to play in the tournament. Nine different players scored a goal in their big win, and Ali was thrilled and excited. He says that ever since we bought eight weeks work of practice time at the arena, the team is really coming together and getting stronger.
He said the team is practicing hard two times a week, thanks to the Army Of Good, and this has made all of the difference.
Our support: We bought new uniforms, shoes, equipment bags and more than $1,000 worth of practice time.
We are also buying food and refreshment for the players after each game. Thanks to Todd Van Epps of Wicked Smart Apparel in Watervliet, N.Y., we got 20 pairs of sneakers for the team, and uniforms for the new girl’s basketball team, still getting organized.
This is not really about sports, of course. Under Ali’s very loving and committed influence, the team has formed its own community, the players are bonded to Ali and one another, they are gaining confidence, motivation and connection. They did not believe they could win in this kind of competition. Most of them played soccer barefoot in their home countries, and in back yards and on dirt roads.
It’s been a difficult evolution for them, but it is happening. I see this growing and strengthening every week.
In late May, after their tournament ends, they will gather for a weekend retreat at the Quaker Powell House Retreat And Youth Center in Old Chatham, N.Y. Two trained counselors will work with them to build their confidence and voice. In the early winter, they went on retreat at Pompanuck Farms, just outside my town of Cambridge.
It is essential that they get out of the city and into the world, in a safe and secure way. They are learning to talk openly about their experiences and frustrations.
My approach to this is a holistic one. They need support for different parts of their lives, not just soccer.
We’ve offered some small scholarships for creative learning, organized some movie expeditions, and some meals, bought clothes when necessary. I hope to take them all out to dinner next week to celebrate their victory on Sunday, the first of many. I have never been much of a sports fan, but this might change all of that.
I believe we are having an enormous impact on these young people, the tournament has provided a focus and a great motivation for them.
Their remarkable victory Sunday was especially sweet, in that the team the defeated so soundly was the same team that beat them 3 to 0.
Ali says their morale is sky-high, their trust and confidence growing. They are working very hard to improve, he said.
Some of it is physical, some psychological.
They look like soccer players, feel like soccer players, and are beginning to see themselves as winners, something new to them. These kids have been through a lot, the soccer tournament is turning out to be a significant adventure for them, a great confidence builder.
I will stay with them all the way. I never wanted Bedlam Farm on the jerseys, but now that it is, I will try to to it proud.
I want to say that the soccer team is not funded in any way by RISSE, they are the children of Ali, and the Army Of Good.
I feel like the unofficial Godfather to Ali and his team.
Your support is very much appreciated.
I still hope to find an inexpensive camping experience for them this summer, perhaps a boat ride and a trip to the Great Adventure Amusement park at Lake George. I’m looking at some other activities for them when school gets out.
They went last year and loved it, I hope they can go back. We are also supporting the Girl’s Basketball Team, which is still accepting members. We have a lot to do, and need as much support as we can muster.
You can contribute by sending a donation to me, Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816 or via Paypal, [email protected]. Thanks so much. It is a miracle to see these young people grow and find strength and connection as they work to acclimate to America. I believe they have suffered enough, it’s time for them to grow and learn.
We are a generous and welcoming people, and the Bedlam Farm Warriors are beginning to see that.
I’m very happy to report that the new, new, new, new, new, new, new, new, new, new, new, new RISSE Amazon Wish List has only one item left on it, some 409 cleaner refill for $31, I just bought Nasco’s Bucket O’ Beads and Charms (6,500 beads and charms) for $30.
I was talking to a RISSE employee this morning, he told me about a refugee family split about by our new immigration laws, the mother and two children got through, he was left behind thinking he could come later but is now unable to get a visa. He was a social worker in Syria, but was told this week he could not get a visa to join his family here in America.
The family – in great danger there – is in an agonizing position, they can’t go back without facing almost certain death, and unless things change radically here, the husband and father will never see them again. He believes he will be killed or imprisoned if he stays.
I hear these stories all the time, the mother of these children is cleaning floors at a local hospital and cleaning hotel rooms during the day. She was a nurse in Syria. They struggle for food and clothing, and she believes the RISSE after school program is saving her life.
She can’t afford day care for her children in the afternoon, and can’t afford to take the classes she needs to get a better job here.
The children get two hot meals a day at the RISSE after school program and your gifts will enable them to play on learning games, sit on alphabet teaching rugs, make beads and necklaces true to their own culture and get specialized English tutoring from the RISSE teachers.
Without RISSE, their mother would have to stop working at least at one of her jobs.
I am very proud to be one of the sponsors of the RISSE Amazon Wish List program, it is compiled by teachers and RISSE officials who have an intimate knowledge of the needs of the school and the refugee and immigrant families. Our government is slashing or eliminating virtually all of their subsidies and aid to refugees and immigrants.
You have made a stunning difference in the school – new toys, puzzles, supplies, rugs, chairs, lamps, posters, painting supplies and crafts, beads and bracelet tools. None of these things existed before your generosity. I’m going to RISSE each week to photograph and document the wonderful work you are doing. Many blessings upon you, as the prophets used to say.
You are supporting learning, creativity, culture and voice. Our holistic approach to support is working, from soccer and basketball to educational toy sand tools. We are making a difference.
This is a great and relatively new way to contribute.
You get to choose what you want to buy, there are no administrative or other hidden costs to think about, everything is needed and will be used. (you can contribute to my work with the refugee children also, by sending a contribution to Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816 or via Paypal, [email protected]) Please mark your contribution “refugees.”
These people are no danger to America, they are not taking our jobs or planning to harm us. They are our brothers and sisters in the American Dream. Thanks so much for supporting what I believe to be a pure act of patriotism. Check out the RISSE Wish List here, a new list is in the pipeline.
