Before I had begun my community service project in the fall of 2004, I was a single mother feeling down and out on my luck. I was feeling depressed and stressed out because of my financial situation. I was working two jobs and living from paycheck to paycheck just to make ends meet, while attending school part-time.
Little did I know that my life was about to change for the better. I was introduced to several new Sudanese refugees during my community service project, but it was one Sudanese refugee woman who changed my life forever. She influenced me in such a positive way and made me want to become a better person, and I don't think she realized what an impact she had on my life.
This is Nyadeng. I met Nyadeng for the first time on Halloween when I was in charge of the Sudanese Refugee Women English Survival Skills class Saturday morning at Grace Lutheran Church in Omaha, NE. Nyadeng spoke very little English, so I had to show her and several other women what I was talking about by drawing pictures on the dry-erase board, using gestures, and doing role-playing to demonstrate what Halloween was all about in America. We did this so that the women would not be frightened if the children in their new neighborhoods knocked on their doors in costume.
The following weekend, Nyadeng and I paired up for an interview. I was to ask her what was needed for her family of five. I was surprised to discover what little the family had. For example, not one person in the family had any winter coats or clothing; they only had one bed and one blanket; they did not have a kitchen table; and they did not have any heat in their two bedroom house. However, she came to class each day with a smile on her face because she was simply grateful to be alive and have her family members living with her in the US. It amazed me that although she had so little, she was so happy.
It was at this time, that we, as students, decided that something must be done to help these refugees. We organized a winter coat/clothing/blanket drive through our university, and we built a closet to hold all of this clothing in the church basement. As chair of the university's daycare, I realized that I could get many of the parents to donate gently used items and sponsor some of the families, so the daycare operated as the drop-off site. We were able to raise a coat for every single person in each family (over 80 people), at least two blankets, one bed (more, if needed), kitchen tables and/or furniture (if needed), etc.
What amazed me was the intense amount of generosity that these women showed for one another when they delved through the coat/clothing closet. They wanted to make sure that each woman had enough clothing for each family, and if they felt that the other got more, that woman would give to the other. They were the most generous, honest people I had seen in a long time. If only we could all be as virtuous as the Sudanese!
After learning about the hardships that these people had overcome, it made my troubles seem minute in comparison...and it made me want to become a better woman/person!