Black Friday


Carla and I helped the family do laundry. They apparently, had never used a machine for laundry before. I am not sure how they did laundry before they were deported from Bhutan. Kamala was surprised at how the machine worked and Tika was curious as to how it worked. The laundry room is very dirty and not kept up. The drywall has holes in it. We discussed the possibility of taking them to a regular coin laundry next time. They could see machines that would wash bigger items such as their comforters and see what a nice clean laundry is like. We were not sure if they will continue to use the laundry machines. One other family, who some of us have met, has been there two months and hasn't yet used the laundry. We had some good laughs about Tara's clothing as they had a lot of stains on them, mostly food. Tika said that Tara is a dirty girl.

Tika showed us a three ring binder with a lot of certificates in it. There were certificates for all the family members showing their achievements in schooling. Tika had several certificates from trade schools. He had a plumbing certificate and a house keeping certificate. Carla learned that he had traveled to other countries selling goods from Bhutan. He speaks "Hindi" which he said is the language of India. After I had that information, I took him to meet some people I know who are from India and have convenience markets. They had a good time talking and reminiscing. They gave him some phone numbers to contact for jobs. Later in the day I spoke with the men from India again and they said he will "get a job no problem". I hope he is right. He said that Tika is bright, personable and aggressive which they like. I told Tika to keep his eyes open to see what is good and what is bad as all people are not as friendly and honest as they appear to be. He said yes yes same same as in Bhutan and The camp.

Tika asked about learning to ride the bus. He is very anxious to be able to get around. He would like to visit more of the people I introduced him to and see more of their markets. We need to have someone take them on the bus next week. We purchased a map of the Phoenix area so he could study it.

He showed me his food stamp card. They had walked to Frys on Wednesday, I think. He asked if someone could go with them a time or two as they do not know what is "good to buy and what is not god to buy." They had some apples and tangerines, which he did not like. The apples were too hard to suit him and he thought the tangerines were damaged. I liked both but I guess tastes are different as well.
ELvern


Thanks to Mike for moving all activities to the calendar on the right side of his blog page. Let's all help him by providing him with the date, time, and responsible party and activity. This also helps the committee member of the day to inform the family about about upcoming activity for the next day.and even write it on their calendar. It is is also an important tool for the committee to use as a reflection/evaluation piece.
November 28 Friday 11:00 a.m. Carla and Elvern machine laundry
November 29 Saturday ??? p.m. Emory and Frankie Chicken dinner at their home
November 30 Sunday ???? ???? TBC worship service

One of my goals for today is to create a list of activities for the family that they should experience in December. As Kathy indicated in an email we need to review and focus on the extended learning activities in the LSS booklet prior to our meeting on Sunday.

We have so much to be thankful for this season. God has given each of us an eye-opening experience to appreciate his gifts to us. Elvern and I chose to participate in the refugee resettlement team to divert our energies and focus from our son Larry to something positive. Larry is seriously mentally ill and medicates himself with crystal meth. God is good all the time and we can personally witness to His blessing!
Have a great weekend.
Helen