A.W.E.

AWE is a non profit in Baltimore, MD. We work in assisting women who are torture survivors seeking asylum in the United States. Please ask questions and educate others about us. Follow us on twitter @asyleewomen

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As a School Sister of Notre Dame, as a Board Member of AWE, and as a faithful watcher of the evening news, I have been deeply overwhelmed with the migration crisis in the Middle East and Europe as well as the immigration situation here in our country.  I live in Connecticut which isn’t usually considered a state of immigrants.  Yet we do have significant numbers in each of our cities. We, SSNDs, have a small house on our Wilton, CT campus which was empty for two years and some speculated who might consider living there. Our constitution states: “As members of an international congregation, we recognize our obligation and opportunities to develop a world vision and a sense of global responsibility.  Our internationality challenges us to witness to unity in a divided world; to discover unsuspected ways of sharing what we have, especially with the poor and marginalized; and to search for new channels of service in the universal church.”

Then the Wilton Interfaith Action Committee consisting of members from 10 different faith groups decided to renew their commitment to refugee resettlement work.  They heard of SSND’s interest in using a house for a refugee family.  On March 10, a Syrian Muslim family including a young 33 year-old widow with her five children – aged 12, 11, 9, 5 and 2 - arrived at JFK airport and moved into our house as a transitional home until they are settled here and able to live independently. This family comes to us through a highly rated nonprofit organization, Integrated Refugee and Immigration Services in New Haven, CT. Even though none of us speak Arabic, we rejoice in seeing the children riding bicycles especially the pink one for the only girl among the four boys. We look forward to helping out with ESL classes, ice cream socials, and other gatherings.  The Wilton Interfaith Group is responsible for interpreters, transportation, health care needs, registration in schools, finding a job for the mother, etc. The SSNDs will volunteer as needed. We feel we have helped this family after they spent a year or two in a refugee camp in Jordan and suffering the loss of husband and father. Our prayers are with them at morning Mass and evening vespers. We are grateful for our partnership with the Refugee Resettlement group from New Haven and the Wilton Interfaith Action Committee who have made it possible for us to be a part of this family’s resettlement in the United States.

Sr. Ethel Howley is a School Sister of Notre Dame and has been an AWE Board Member for four years.

[asyleewomen]

Spring Forward with AWE

Spring is a great time of year – graduations, weddings, vacations and more exciting beginnings!

Join me in my pledge to begin growing our network of AWE supporters. Because I am such a fan of the wonderful work by AWE, I pledge to tell at least one new person about AWE every week of SPRING! That’s 14 weeks and 14 new supporters of the wonderful work being done here in Baltimore for asylum seekers.

There are tons of ways to get new supporters involved with AWE – volunteering, donations, and don’t forget about your runner friends – The Baltimore Running Festival is AWE’s LARGEST single fundraiser each year!  

Finally, as you start your spring cleaning, consider a food donation to the NEW AWE FOOD PANTRY. See below for more information: 

Food accepted Monday-Thursday from 10-2. 4500 Frankford Ave., Baltimore 21206

Jade Jackson is an AWE Board Member and also works for Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services.

[asyleewomen]

Global Indifference

Pope Francis in his weekly address spoke of the 4 nuns killed in Yemen.  In calling them "today's martyrs"  he emphasized how they were not just victims of their attackers  but by a "global system that is ignoring the violence of so many."  Often when an act of violence is not directly upon us it can be easy not to be affected by it.  It can seem like it is "not our problem."

Pope Francis calls us to see today how so many migrants and asylum seekers are suffering due to the global indifference that exists among many.

They seek refuge from unjust situations and so much violence and so often are unable to find acceptance due to the indifference of many.  When we welcome these asylees we welcome God for we are all one and their needs are our needs and so beg our response. Let us and all our world learn to care deeply and not be described as a people of global indifference.

Sr. Cecelia Cyford is a Sister of St. Joseph of Philadelphia and works in the Religious Education office at Sacred Heart Church in Glyndon, MD.  She is an active asylee companion and Board Member of AWE.

[asyleewomen]

Humanitarian Duty

As an immigration attorney – no, strike that – as a citizen of the United States, I could not be more disappointed in or dumfounded by the response of the 30 or so state governors who have decided to “refuse” to accept Syrian refugees in their states.  Leaving aside the fact that these governors have exactly no legal authority to overrule or undermine the Federal government on the issue of immigration, the entire premise itself is utterly absurd.  

In response to the horrific criminal acts of terrorism carried out in Paris on November 13, 2015, the political right in this country, including Maryland’s own governor, Larry Hogan, has decided to vilify an entire population of people who themselves had exactly nothing to do with the Paris terror attacks.  As of this writing, none of the alleged attackers have been identified as Syrian, let alone are they suspected of having crossed into Europe from Syria under cover as refugees.  

Even so, the refugee resettlement program in the United States is perhaps the most strenuous of any of the country’s various immigration programs.  As David Miliband, president of the International Rescue Committee, wrote in a recent New York Daily News op-ed, “[t]here are many ways to come to the United States. Comparatively the refugee resettlement program is the most difficult short of swimming the Atlantic. 

Finally, as has been pointed out by many commenters already, refugees from Syria are fleeing the exact type of violence and extremism on display in Paris last week.  Since the conflict in Syria began in 2011, estimates are that nearly 12 million Syrians have been displaced, with more than half of those children; nearly 4 million Syrians have fled their country; and nearly 240,000 people have been killed.  This is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. For the United States (of all places) to turn its back and cower in xenophobic fear is disgraceful; even more so when such a reaction makes no logical sense.  

The political reaction in the United States to the Paris attacks is completely and unapologetically unmoored from any sense of reality or decency.  And it isn’t just a bunch of cowardly governors.  Every Republican presidential candidate, and now a majority of the Republican-controlled United States House of Representatives, has come out in support of stopping Syrian refugee resettlements in the United States.  By (stark) contrast, French President Francois Hollande announced yesterday that his country would respect its commitment to continue to take in Syrian refugees, calling it a “humanitarian duty.”  

From 1952 to 1960, a Republican was president of the United States, when a communist dictator took control of Cuba and sent hundreds of thousands of people fleeing to the United States in search of refuge.  It’s a good thing for at least one current Republican presidential candidate that the United States recognized its humanitarian duty then.    

If only we could be so decent and courageous now.  

[asyleewomen]

Why I am running for AWE

I have so many stories I can tell about AWE and the amazing, wonderful work being done.  My experiences at the not-so-traditional Thanksgivings, Molly’s constant dedication, or how I became involved. However, I want my first blog to be about an upcoming event, the Baltimore Marathon.

As a Board member it was my responsibility to recruit runners… let’s just say I am not always the most prompt person.  I also was having trouble recruiting runner friends – other marathons were scheduled, not this year, or people just plain avoiding me.  I figured, okay – I can do this.  I’ll just sign up and run with friends in a relay.  Recruitment wasn’t terribly easier, but I was able to shore up two friends (and one of their boyfriends) for the relay team.

I was so very excited when I saw my friend’s request for funding and the dedication she had made to ensuring AWE’s information was clearly shared with prospective donors (she sent out an e-mail to all of her friends).  Not only was I involved and invested in this organization, but I had also made enough of an impression on my friend to spark enthusiasm and dedication as well. Sharing the work done by AWE with my friends is a main reason why I am running.

I am not a runner.  In fact, I’m not sure that I’ve really ran more than a few miles in the last few years.  I also broke my leg two consecutive years, with a brief stint in shock trauma surgery.  I am terrified about the prospect of running 6-7 miles and don’t think I’ve even ever ran a 5K.  However, this year in particular (maybe because I’m leaning more towards community work and less towards cubicle work), I felt really compelled to make the commitment and do something I wasn’t great at; wasn’t even used to routinely doing.  

When I think about this comparison; making the commitment to something unknown, something a little scary, and perhaps something you’ve never done before, and how it relates to many of the women supported by AWE, I see so many of the same concepts.  I am so especially grateful and blessed to have experienced an upbringing in a stable government and the ability to follow my dreams, educational, and professional goals (with the help of SallieMae and other federal funding).

In all seriousness, I encounter stories of migrants, refugees and asylees every day who are forced to make hard choices, embark upon journeys completely foreign and unknown, and start anew with very little training, assistance or support.  Running my 6-7 miles doesn’t even begin to resemble these sacrifices made on a daily basis, yet this is another step on path of realization and appreciation for the emotions, experiences, and difficulties facing asylee women.

I’m excited to run with fellow supporters this fall and to spread my passion for AWE with my friends, family and colleagues.  I am scared, but I have faith that with resilience and determination I, like the women involved with AWE, will do great! 

Posted by: Jade Jackson.  Jade is an AWE Board Member and works with refugee and asylee children in a national program.

[asyleewomen]

AWE and Laudato Si’

Knowing that the mission statement of AWE speaks of helping “women seeking asylum to rebuild their lives and their spirits,” I wondered what the encyclical on environment, Laudato Si’, would say to AWE’s staff, its Board, and the women awaiting asylum. I soon discovered it includes all people, all creatures and a clear awareness of the many problems faced by all of us on this Earth. Laudato Si’ says “Everything is connected. Concern for the environment thus needs to be joined to a sincere love for our fellow human beings and an unwavering commitment to resolving the problems of society.”   “Today, . . . we have to realize that a true ecological approach always becomes a social approach; it must integrate questions of justice in debates on the environment, so as to hear both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor.”

Pope Francis recognizes that “the majority of people living on our planet profess to be believers. This should spur religions to dialogue among themselves for the sake of promoting nature, defending the poor, and building networks of respect and fraternity.”  When he speaks of the common good, we read “In the present condition of global society, where injustices abound and growing numbers of people are deprived of basic human rights and considered expendable, the principle of the common good immediately becomes, logically and inevitably, a summons to solidarity and a preferential option for the poorest of our brothers and sisters.”  

To remind us of our inspiration, Laudato Si’ articulates some connections, “Everything is related, and we human beings are united as brothers and sisters on a wonderful pilgrimage, woven together by the love God has for each of his creatures and which also unites us in fond affection with brother sun, sister moon, brother river, and mother earth.” . . . “Love, overflowing with small gestures of mutual care, is also civic and political, and it makes itself felt in every action that seeks to build a better world.” . . . “When we feel that God is calling us to intervene with others in these social dynamics, we should realize that this too is part of our spirituality, which is an exercise of charity and, as such, matures and sanctifies us.”

I will conclude this musing with a quote from an early section, “Furthermore, although this encyclical welcomes dialogue with everyone so that together we can seek paths of liberation, I would like from the outset to show how faith convictions can offer Christians, and some other believers as well, ample motivation to care for nature and for the most vulnerable of their brothers and sisters.” Ethel Howley, SSND AWE Board Member

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Detention in Dilley

Last month my wife, Maureen Sweeney, an immigration attorney, spent a week volunteering at the South Texas Residential Family Center in Dilley Texas. Though the name of this facility sounds relatively benign, for many of its residents it is a place of uncertainty and anxiety. It houses approximately 2000 women and their children, almost all from Latin America, who are in immigration detention, which can last anywhere from onemonth to over a year. All of the women are seeking asylum in the United States, fleeing civil or domestic violence in their homelands, and in this way they are not unlike the women whom AWE seeks to serve.            

Unlike the women of AWE, however, these women are living in an environment that often exacerbates the trauma they have already suffered. Volunteer lawyers like my wife, recruited by a coalition of immigrant rights groups, come in for a week at a time and work twelve-hour days interviewing the women to help them prepare for their “credible fear” interview, in which they have to present their story in hopes of being granted bond, which will allow them to leave detention, and eventually have an asylum hearing. The lawyers help these women sort through their stories, helping them to understand what is and is not relevant in light of the often counter-intuitive complexities of U.S. immigration law. But the lawyers are overworked and constantly cycling through the Center week by week. Some counseling and medical care is available, but the women report that it is hardly adequate, particularly given the traumatic life events that many of the women and children are fleeing.            

Without calling into question the motives of any of the individuals who work in the Center, it is clear that the women themselves experience it as a form of imprisonment,despite the brightly colored T-shirts they are required to wear and the Disney princesses that adorn the walls. The Obama Administration has said that the purpose of this detention is not because the women do not have credible asylum claims or that they are a flight risk, but simply to deter others from seeking asylum in the U.S. My wife overheard one little girl say to her mother, “Mommy, why are we locked up when daddy was the one who was hurting us?”

Hearing about all of this makes me appreciate the kind of care and support an organization like AWE can provide to asylee women who need a home, not a holding cell, and who need friends and mentors, not guards.

You can learn more about the detention of women and children from the first-hand account of Mercy Sister Kathleen Erickson, who worked in Dilley as a chaplain for two months: http://www.christianpost.com/news/detention-of-women-children-must-end-says-catholic-sister-140253/ You can find information on writing letters of support to the women detained in Dilley at https://cliniclegal.org/letters.

Here is an update on the plight of women and children at Dilley. http://jezebel.com/migrant-mothers-and-children-to-be-freed-from-texas-det-1717694872

Fritz Bauerschmidt is the Chair of the Theology Department at Loyola University in Baltimore, Maryland.  He is a founding Board Member of AWE and currently serves as Board Vice President.

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Sweet, Sweet Spirit!

Writing this blog is something that has been on my mind and heart for a few weeks now.  Recently, I had the opportunity to watch the movie, “The Good Lie”, a story about Sudanese Refugees based on actual events.  There is an African proverb listed at the end of the movie:  “If you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together.”  It has stayed with me and continues to evolve in meaning for me.  Certainly, the movie touched into my experiences through my and my community’s connection with Asylee Women Enterprise.  Those experiences and the proverb are intertwined with my experience this past week of my congregation’s annual week of community meetings, and our gathering on the last day with some of the women of AWE for a shared meal.  

These meetings happen annually in June, and the sisters from across the country as well as Venezuela and Puerto Rico gather together to “catch up” with each other, share mission stories, and be enriched by each other and by the input of the days. It’s always a wonderful experience of all of us being in the same room as it were, and reconnecting as well as connecting in a new way with our mission and with each other.  One of our liturgy presiders was with us at the beginning of our days and commented on the “sweet, sweet Spirit” he sensed in the room.  He again was with us on the last afternoon of our gathering and commented that we all looked a bit tired, yet at the same time we looked renewed and his experience was the “sweet, sweet Sprit” was burning in our hearts.  

Coming together as community accentuates that “sweet, sweet Spirit.”  Since 2011 our Mission Helper community has been “sweetened” by the presence of AWE.  From the first gathering of about nine women’s religious communities, to the presence of the cooperative in our building to the first women living with us, we have traveled far as a community by traveling together with all involved with AWE.    Developing relationships within community takes time, and everyone is enriched by a shared passion and vision.  The lens through which each of us see and experience all of life is enlarged.  The shared joy increases and the sharing of burdens helps sorrows become bearable. When we go fast through life we sometimes miss the bigger picture – we sometimes miss the subtleties of a situation, a person, or a conversation.  When we truly encounter each other; we deepen our awareness that we are all one.  

On the last day of our congregational meetings we were joined by some of the women of AWE for our noontime meal.  What a joyous experience and an opportunity to strengthen the bonds that bind us as one. There was an extra, unexpected joy that day as the first woman who lived with us for about two years and then moved on to other housing joined us for our meal.  She was a witness to some of the newer women and she was able to reconnect with one of the sisters she had lived with.  It was a beautiful reunion and the courageous, loving spirit of this woman gave hope to those just beginning their journey in this country.

In community, and with time, the layers of meaning in the proverb begin to unfold.  “If you want to go fast, go alone.  If you want to go far, go together.”  During the week, one of the sisters shared with me that the witness of the women of AWE who live with uncertainty and who have given up so much gives her courage.  “They don’t seem to dwell on the pain and loss, she said, they focus on what they have now and what the future holds.”  “That is an example to me,” she said.  The presence of the women of AWE among us has helped us to reclaim part of the heritage of our founding sisters.  Their presence with and among us influences the way we are together.  The spirit of hospitality we strive to witness as Mission Helpers of the Sacred Heart, is birthed anew in our hearts as we allow others to make a home in our house yet more importantly in our hearts.  Thank you to AWE!

 Sr. Elizabeth Langmead is a member of the Leadership Team of her community, Mission Helpers of the Sacred Heart.  She serves as the community liaison to the AWE Board.

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The start of a new life.

What AWE has done for me personally and as a member of the Benedictine Sisters of Baltimore is to expand my/our world in an extraordinary way.  My/our life changed on December 28, 2010 when Molly Corbett contacted us and asked if we could “house, just for a short time” a young pregnant woman from Afghanistan. Molly assured us that even though A. was  8 months into her pregnancy , she was sure that the baby would be late and we had at least 4 – 6 weeks to find her a more permanent place to stay. Wrong!!

Being a community of women religious who had never gone through child bearing, we figured that since Molly was the mother of 2, she was the “expert” and so we trusted her and said YES, for which we are eternally grateful. A. came on January 1, 2012 and our lives changed forever…as did hers!  

In the few days before A. came, we prepared a room for her and did a number of phone calls to friends especially those who were nurses or had experience in “birthing”.  Plus, we contacted a Sister friend who worked at a hospital.   We wanted to be sure that we were ready for what lay ahead. As we look back we just laugh!

What is really funny or at least humorous (in hindsight), is that A. began with contractions and bleeding the very 1st night she was with us.  Yikes!! One of the Sisters called 911 and told the dispatcher that we wanted to go to a particular hospital.  Of course, that was glossed over because the EMT’s would decide that according to proximity.  Once the EMT’s were here and examined her, she was placed in the ambulance and off we went.  The miracle was that the driver was new to the area so asked the Sister to direct him to our “hospital of choice”.  Truly a gift – one of many that happened that day.  

At the hospital, A. was wheeled in quickly – no questions asked. She was checked over thoroughly. A sonogram showed a healthy baby and even though, she had little pre natal care, A. was in good shape - everything looked ok.  The baby did not come that day but, A. was now registered into a medical system, her baby was okay and an Ob Gyn doctor had agreed to see her, which happened over the next  couple of days.  Another miracle!!

A. wanted to thank the Sisters for their help and for her new home, so offered to cook an Afghan dinner for us.  Nice thought!!  On January 6, the contractions and bleeding came full force and this time, we drove her to the hospital.  It took about 7 or 8 hours before a beautiful baby boy was born.  In the delivery room one of the attending doctors just happened to speak Farsi which was another gift.  A. spoke English but at a time like this, a familiar voice and language was so comforting.  We met so many caring people that day.  And knowing that A. would need baby clothes, the nurses had begun to collect baby clothes.

After 3 days, A. and her baby returned to the monastery.  Those weeks that we thought she would be with us turned into 2 ½ years. This YES to a Muslim woman & a baby has expanded our community culturally and geographically as we have “taken in” 3 other women.   AWE was birthed – true gift to all!

Sr. Patricia Kirk is a Benedictine Sister at Emmanuel Monastery.  She was recently elected Prioress of the monastery and will begin her term on July 1, 2015.

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To Act Justly

           During this past week, I received a document from the USCCB explaining their proposed reform for the US Immigration Detention System. Within this lengthy document, I found a story from a family detention center in New Mexico entitled, Don’t Take My Sweater. “The center is located in a desert-like arid climate and landscape, with temperatures reaching 100 Fahrenheit or more.  One little girl, around two years old, always wore a bright pink and black sweater, which was, as her mother told it, her favorite possession. The little girl feared that if she took off the sweater, it would be taken away. The image of this little girl, overheated because she wore her favorite possession and feared its loss, shows the vulnerability of little children and their mothers in a restrictive setting and how unsuited families are to live in prison-like facilities.”

           After reading this, I was reminded of the women I have met through AWE who are living with the Women Religious of a few different congregations in Baltimore. I have met and visited with some of these asylum seekers in a couple of different settings. My sense is that they are at peace even though they are anxious while waiting for legal appointments, other necessary preparations and their final court hearing. Once they settle into their new AWE housing, they seem to feel safe and ready to move along into a new phase in their journey to America.

           The fear described in the family detention center story is not apparent, their possessions remain intact and children’s toys are untouched.  All are free to come and go from their new homes. Members of their home community, AWE colleagues, and other volunteers arrange medical and legal appointments, religious opportunities, along with cultural and fun activities.  

Women interested in pursuing more education are able to attend English classes, community college, certified nursing assistant programs, or other career based courses. People who have come to us from abuse and terror need the warm welcome that I have felt during my visits at the AWE events and residences.

           Reflecting on this contrast between how Asylee Women Enterprise and US Immigration System respond to new comers in our country is a call for me to press for the closure of Family Detention Centers in our country.

           By opening their communities to the Asylee Women, I believe that the Religious Sisters in and around Baltimore have taken to heart the passage of Leviticus 19, “If a stranger lives with you in your land, do not molest [her].  You must count [her] as one of your own people and love [her] as yourself.” Many lay people have also responded with the Prophet Micah’s call, “only this, to act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with your God.”

Ethel Howley, SSND A.W.E. Board of Directors

[asyleewomen]

Asylum seekers in the United States receive no government benefits and the current process is backlogged so much that people are waiting years for their asylum decision.  See how Asylee Women Enterprise helps asylum seekers to thrive not just survive!

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#AWE365

[asyleewomen]

#AWE365

See how AWE changes the lives of asylum seekers, offering hope, family and safety.  Three amazing programs, 6 ways asylum seekers inspire, $5 to help them rebuild their lives.

https://youtu.be/7iTQmXnlXeA

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Click here to support #AWE365

#AWE365 is a campaign to raise awareness and funding for women seeking asylum in the Baltimore Metropolitan area. Asylee Women Enterprise (AWE) helps women rebuild their lives and their spirits, after arriving here from Afghanistan, Burundi, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Rwanda, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast and Central African Republic. Individuals seeking asylum have one year, or 365 days, from when they enter the United States to submit their application for asylum. 3 AWEsome Program Initiatives Community • Housing • Co-op 6 Ways Asylee Women Inspire Please see our video linked above 5 Dollars to Show your Support ...for general operating funds (food stipends, transportation to legal/doctor visits) and housing An asylee is a person who flees her country and cannot return due to persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on the basis of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a social group. AWE provides transitional housing, companionship and community to women seeking asylum by offering a safe and nurturing home, opportunities to connect with women in the larger community and each other. AWE is pursuing additional funding for general operating expenses and the housing/shelter needs of women seeking asylum. For more information about AWE, please visit http://www.asyleewomen.org

#AWE365

[humanrightswatch]

Abuse of Children Latest Horrors From Central African Republic

Recent reports are exposing new horrors in the almost forgotten war in the Central African Republic (CAR). During the conflict that began in 2013, thousands of civilians fled the fighting so when French troops arrived in Bangui, the CAR capital, in December 2013, many took refuge near their base, believing they would be safer there.

Sadly, according to a United Nations report, some French soldiers acted as predators rather than protectors, sexually abusing children in exchange for food or money.

Read more

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Let Your Light Shine

Sr. Cecelia Cyford, SSJ is a Sister of St. Joseph, Philadelphia.  Sr. Cecelia is the director of Religious Education at Sacred Heart of Glyndon Parish.  She is a founding Board Member of Asylee Women Enterprise

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Hope in Baltimore