Catholic Charities To Offer Refugee Simulation Program In Warsaw
By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews
WARSAW — Those wishing to empathize with Afghanistan refugees will soon have an opportunity to do so in Warsaw.
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, which assists refugees locally, will host refugee simulation programs at Sacred Heart Catholic Church’s gym on Sunday, Jan. 16.
Nyein Chan, a former refugee himself, and Nicole Kurut will lead separate programs for adults and teenagers, with the adult program running from 3-5 p.m. The one for teens will be from 6-8 p.m.
Kurut gave the following description of what people should expect: “Imagine fighting has begun outside your home. You must pack a bag and flee to safety, but where will you go? In this 11-stage simulation, you will trace the footsteps many are forced to take to find refuge.”
Participants will break up into groups of about six for the programs, which will simulate refugees’ journeys from leaving home to settling into new ones.
There’s no cost for the programs, but people should let leaders know if they will attend and how many will be coming in the different age groups, said Dick Rooker. Rooker has helped organize efforts locally to help Afghan refugees being resettled in northern Indiana.
People should reach out to Kurut at [email protected] regarding the programs.
Helping refugees
Rooker also gave an update on how people can help Afghan refugees being resettled into Fort Wayne.
Recently volunteers have been helping Catholic Charities turn a former nursing facility there, Villa of the Woods, into a place for refugees to stay. Rooker said more than 80 refugees have come to Fort Wayne so far and he estimates about 60 could move into the former facility.
Volunteers have helped with putting together shelves, organizing donations and cleaning rooms. If people from the Warsaw area are interested in helping with that project or other ones that Catholic Charities is doing to help refugees, they should email [email protected] and ask to be added to the email list to receive updates about volunteer opportunities.
People can also donate financially to Catholic Charities to help. More information on that can be found by going to the organization’s website.
In fact, Rooker said that the group is not seeking more donations of clothes for the refugees right now because of storage limitations.
“They are swamped with the generosity of the community,” said Rooker.
Rooker helped organize a meeting in November to enlist support in the Warsaw area for helping Afghan refugees.
He said multiple people have stepped up to help since then, including a group led by June Stealy out of North Manchester.
“The response from our community meeting in November to help the refugees has been phenomenal,” he said. “Warsaw and the surrounding communities have donated time, labor and financial resources to make ready the housing facility in Fort Wayne and to ease the burden of those in greater need than many, if not all of us, have ever known. That people would make repeated trips from Warsaw, North Manchester, and other communities an hour away from the housing site speaks to the generosity of our community.”