Dec. 22, 2008 issue
Youth give comforters to Iraqi refugees
By Cathryn Clinton Mennonite Central CommitteeAKRON, Pa. — When Kholiwe Vundla knotted comforters for Mennonite Central Committee, she didn’t know her youth group would give similar comforters to refugees in her own community.
Kholiwe Vundla of North Baltimore Mennonite Church writes a note to accompany a comforter. — Photo by Ruth Keidel Clemens/MCC
Vundla knotted the comforters at an Atlantic Coast Conference youth retreat in September with her youth group from North Baltimore Mennonite Church.
Mary Martin, clothing coordinator at the MCC East Coast Material Resource Center in Ephrata, took the comforter tops to the retreat. She shared with the youth that this year, MCC sent comforters to Iraq, Afghanistan, Honduras, Nepal, North Korea, Russia and Ukraine.
Heather Yoder, youth coordinator at North Baltimore Mennonite, aims to have a youth service project every month. Part of her vision is that the youth interact with the people they serve.
She had heard that newly arrived Iraqi refugees in Baltimore needed blankets through Dr. Mohammed (an assumed name), an Iraqi refugee.
Yoder saw a way to connect people and projects through service. MCC provided comforters to the youth group, and Yoder invited Mohammed to speak at the youth gathering. Yoder emphasized that the meeting was not just about distributing blankets. It was also about showing friendship and learning more about the situation in Iraq.
Mohammed talked about his life in Iraq. He was a physician in charge of the hospital system in Baghdad and was targeted for personal attack. He had to flee the country and is waiting for his family to join him.
The youth wrote notes of welcome to the refugees in Baltimore, who received the comforters the next day.
“Hearing the stories from Dr. Mohammed about life in Baghdad helped to put us in their position and to understand why they left Iraq,” Vundla said. “Having an Iraqi refugee himself, who still has family in Iraq, speak to us about his experience gave the project a very personal touch.”
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