02/07/10

This past week we had school again. It was great to be getting back to our regular schedule. We still aren't quite back to schedule as we are continuing with our refugee program. We had to stop taking new refugees into our program, however those who have been interviewed and given a card are allowed to come once a week for four weeks. We take people on Mondays and Thursdays. This past week was the first full week of handing out aide packets to the refugees. After school, we eat lunch quickly and meet back at the school at 2:30PM. The refugees are supposed to show up at 3PM, however we see them there as early as 6:30AM waiting across the street.

As soon as one teacher makes their way toward the gate the entire crowd moves in and the pushing begins. As I have mentioned before, the people who are pushing are not pushing us nor are they being unruly toward us. They are just pushing amongst themselves as some try to work their way forward so it gets a little difficult. To remedy this, we have them line up along the street. Those who line up quickly get a slip of paper with a number on it. Those who are arguing about where they were in line are sent to the back. This has sped up the process tremendously. It helps us get everyone inside the school gate and upstairs where we can begin handing out their supplies.

Since the program began, we have helped nearly 1000 people and have gone through thousands of pounds of rice and beans. It's unbelievable how quickly we are going through it.

Here's a picture of Friday, January 29th when we took our last group of refugee interviews. The first picture is of the crowd outside our gate. The other pictures are inside the school gate. In the last picture, you'll see those in line, but if you look toward the top, you can also see the people upstairs that we have seated: