20170701 Umoja Speech

When Virginia and I started on this adventure, we had no idea what we were getting into.  Years ago we had inquired about fostering children, and while we knew it was something we wanted to do, the time was never exactly right and we never quite made the space for it to happen. And then we saw a new story about the way some people were treating unaccompanied minor refugees in our local area.  And our outrage propelled us to finally start the process.

Our friends and family thought we were crazy, but we were committed to doing this. We went through all the training and background checks and waited.  Eventually, we got the call and were told that two boys from Afghanistan were on their way.  We were excited and terrified at the same time.
It is two years later and we now have 4 amazing foster boys.  We could never have imagined how awesome it has been to open our hearts and home to these guys.  It has transformed our lives and those of our friends and family.  People tell us all the time how lucky our boys are, but we know that we are the lucky ones.

As for our boys, they are great – two recently graduated from high school and are headed to community college in the fall.  The other two are still in high school  They amaze us all the time with the courage and grace with which they handle their challenges.  We do what we can, and that isn’t enough.  Fortunately, we all get a lot of support from friends and family and through our boys, we discovered a community of support we never even knew existed.  The incredibly kind, supportive and generous people of Allentown’s Al Ahad Islamic Center welcomed our children and us into their community.  That support has been invaluable.

As a couple of people who were not into team sports, and were thrust into the roles of “soccer dad” and “soccer mom”, we have quickly learned to appreciate the positive power of sports for our kids.  The boys have joined their high school tennis, track, volleyball and soccer programs, and the Al Ahad team, and participating in local leagues, and the Umoja soccer clinic.  Given the painful losses and separations the boys have suffered, these sports have allowed the boys to develop new strong lasting relationships.
And, taking it to a new level, attending last year’s Umoja New York tournament, I marveled at how participants and families converged literally from around the world to create new connections and rekindle old friendships.  In rising to the challenge of competitive playing, the boys shared an intense and memorable time together.

We feel deeply honored to attend this year’s Umoja Games!   We appreciate that it takes an incredible amount of care, coordination, and effort to make a complex event like this happen.  It makes being an instant parent of four teenagers seem fairly simple.

While we feel lucky to have found our boys, and while they have found a loving family, many of their friends have not been so fortunate. Many still wait to be placed in a home. Others have arrived only to be placed in group homes without the support of a host family.  Getting through high school is hard enough when you are part of a family. It’s a lot harder when you’re on your own, in a new country, wrestling with a strange language and a different culture.

If you feel moved to do something to help refugees, there are many things that you can do.  We urge you to consider fostering or mentoring refugee children.

If you have any questions, please feel free to talk to either of us and we would love to tell you more (or just brag about the kids!)