Planting the first Seeds

Saturday was a day to mark in the books for Hope Rise International! We launched the new farming project! The day was sunny and beautiful- a perfect day to spend outside.

The farming project is a vision that I have had since August. You see, about 80% of the Bhutanese-Nepali refugees were farmers in Nepal. They had worked land all their lives, seen growth, been outside and fed their families. Many of them since being in America, have spent days inside apartments with nothing to do, nowhere to go and no way to get anywhere. But this day, they were outside where they feel alive and their faces showed it! With smiles spread across their faces and dressed in their typical saris, dresses and nice pants, they got down in the dirt to plant onions, potatoes and beets. They could not have been more pleased.

We have worked on pulling together the necessary elements to get them started to plant and grow vegetables, fruits and herbs. Epworth United Methodist Church found out about the refugees and the congregation has been a vital part in getting the farming started. One man from the church donated three acres of land in College Grove, Tennessee, for them to begin to plant and harvest. He bought the seeds and got them started on Saturday. Other members of the church have been helping with equipment, seed calendars and many other things to ensure we get this started and set it up for success.

We are hoping to feed most of the families in the refugee community with the things that are grown and we also want to start selling the crops at Farmer’s Markets around Nashville. Now we need to find some trucks to load up and drive to the markets! This will give the farmers an income! This is particularly a great opportunity because many of the farmers are elderly people and women who do not speak English. It has been a challenge for them to get a job in America. Now they are getting to do what they have always known, be outside instead of cooped up in an apartment all day and sell product for an income.

Hope was planted in their hearts today as we planted the seeds for the harvest to come in a few months!

Blankets are like Gold

2/19/2010

Greetings!

Earlier this week, we had a hotel donate about 75 blankets to us. Today was as good a day as any to hand them out to the refugees. It was the first sunny day without snow Nashville has seen in weeks!

It’s a special thing on days we have mass donations. How it usually works is we park the van in one area of the neighborhood, and within five minutes almost every one of the 300+ families are surrounding us, there to receive. Kids were getting off their school buses, and parents were running trying to see what we were giving out today. It still blows me away, the amount of culture we miss out on in America. Just the fashion of the Nepali was a sight.

The Nepali’s were dressed in bright hats and colorful sweaters. Some just had t-shirts. It was hard passing out blankets, knowing they had survived the worst of the winter without one. Many of the family just pile sweatshirts on top of themselves for warmth at night. It’s hard knowing that, but not being able to have enough resources yet to fix it.

Days like these keep us fighting. The joy of knowing our efforts are actually helping makes this worth all the emails and late night phone calls, trying to get anything from donations to volunteers. The grateful bow and thank you from one single mother means we’re doing what we know is right.

A special thanks to our friends at Mercy Ministries! They donated some really nice hoodies that we gave out as well.

We met some new families who have just come into the neighborhood from World Relief. We are excited to get to know their stories and they’re dreams in America. We are trying to get them a TV and some beds for their six-person family. It’s a start.

As this spring approaches, we’re really trying to get more activities to raise money and awareness. Can you say Culture Festival? It among many others is in the works for outreach and support possibilities. Keep praying for us, and believe in the miracles God is blessing these people with. Keep hope alive! See you soon!