Louisville Slugger Field

A few weeks ago, we took a field trip to the Louisville Slugger Field for a tour of the stadium where the Louisville Bats play! The elders had a great time, and many of them said they were interested in going to a game, so we were able to reserve group tickets for a game in late June.  Check back for pictures of the game, and in the mean time check out the photos from our tour!

Arriving at the stadium!

Unfortunately, it was a rainy day, but everybody had a good time anyway!

The elders got to hang out in the visiting team's dugout!

Baharieh and interpreter Sima having a great time!

Hong, interpreter Truclan, and Le Boi

Calixto loves baseball!

Abdel and volunteer Ward

Volunteer Katie, Modhr, Abdel and teacher Michaela on the baseball field!

At the end of the tour, we were able to sit in an all-inclusive box seat!

Thanks for visiting, and don't forget to check back for the photos from the game in late June! :)

Exercise Class

A couple of posts ago I talked about Abdel, one of our elders who was a professional swimmer in Iraq.  Abdel still loves to exercise, and he volunteers at the YMCA in order to get a free membership. A few weeks ago, teacher Michaela talked with him about leading the other students in some light exercises before class. He loved the idea, so the students have been exercising for about 10 minutes before class begins everyday. The teachers said they've even noticed a difference in the students' energy levels in class!

Frankfort!

One day when we had interpreters at the program a few months ago, some of the Bhutanese clients came to me and told me they have never been to the capital of Kentucky, and they would really like to see it. We had some money saved from our St. James Art Fair Fundraiser, so we were able to take the students on a field trip on April 16. We had enough people to fill a school bus and two large vans!

We stopped first to eat lunch at a park. It was a beautiful day, and everybody brought food to share with their classmates and teachers- it was delicious! 

Some of the Bhutanese students enjoying lunch.

Tara had a great time!

Modhr and Adel...these two are mushkila! ;)

Le Boi and Hong with teacher Michaela

Then we went to the Capitol for a tour. The elders LOVED getting to see everything, and we were able to bring interpreters with us so they could understand what they were experiencing.

Sitting in the Kentucky House of Representatives.

Everyone loved getting to stand at the podium for the Speaker of the House.

Hari Maya, Indra, Madhavid, and Tika enjoying the Capitol!

Cross-cultural friends :)

Hari with a very famous Kentuckian- Colonial Sanders!

A professional photographer took our picture at the beginning of the tour, and everybody received a copy in the mail. Here's our whole group...people from all over the world who are now proud to be Kentuckians!

At the end of the tour, everybody was given a certificate with their name on it.

Before we went home, we also stopped at the Capital City Museum, where we learned all about the history of Frankfort. 

Everybody had a blast. Thank you to everybody who supports the Elder Program, for making this day happen for our students!

What we've been up to lately...

It's way past time for an update from the Refugee Elder Program! In November, we began meeting at Highland United Methodist Church, just a few blocks down from KRM on Cherokee Road. Since then, we've celebrated two elders passing their citizenship exams!

Abby and Althea (Catholic Charities) with Aung at his oath ceremony!

Congrats to the new US citizens!

This month, Aimee's class has been learning food and cooking terms. Today in school they made soup to demonstrate what they've been learning. Most of the Bhutanese Nepalis don't eat meat, so they made vegetable soup so all of the students could enjoy it. They shared it with the other classes and the entire pot was gone- it was a big hit!

Planning out the meal...

Francisco and Carol are getting the broth ready

Omar rinsing off the beans

Musa stirring it all together

The finished product!

 Abdel was a professional swimmer in Iraq. He brought his medals today to show off!

We're always having all kinds of fun at the Refugee Elder Program. I promise I'll try to update the blog more often!

February Supply Drive!

During the month of February, the KRM Youth and Elder Programs are hosting a supply drive. Please pass on this information and consider donating some items to benefit these refugees!

Meet Abby

My name is Abby Webb, and I am the new Elder Program Coordinator for the Louisville Refugee Elder Program!  I am so excited to begin working with the elders, the volunteers, and everyone else involved with this amazing program.  It was suggested to me by the former coordinator that a short 'get to know Abby' post would be a good idea to publish on the blog...

I'm from St. Louis and went to school at the University of Missouri - go Tigers!! I got my bachelor's and master's degrees in Social Work and I've been working with the student ministry at a church organization for the last four and half years. I just got married this summer and moved to Louisville so that my husband, Ryan, can attend Southern Seminary here. I love cooking and baking, traveling around the world, reading, iced tea, the St. Louis Cardinals and the Mizzou Tigers. I did my undergrad practicum at a refugee resettlement agency in Missouri, and I am so excited to be working with refugees again! :)

Second Annual Summer Supply Drive

Last year, we hosted our first Summer Supply Drive and because it was such a huge success, we decided to host the event annually!  After all, school supplies are on sale every year at this time, so a little bit of money can go a long way in providing the elders with the supplies needed to help them in their studies.  Just check out this post from last year about how a friend of the Elder Program stretched her dollars to purchase some much-needed supplies for the elders.

Our Summer Supply Drive will run through the end of August; here is a list of items which would be greatly appreciated by the elders and the teachers:

Gift Cards to Kroger, Wal*Mart, Target, and the Parent Teacher Store
     These gift cards will help us purchase supplies, including snacks for the elders, classroom posters and teaching materials, and other supplies throughout the year.

Notebooks (spiral bound preferred)

Pencils

Looseleaf Notebook Paper

You can bring your donations to:

Refugee Elder Program
c/o Chris Clements
Migration and Refugee Services
Catholic Charities
2220 West Market Street
Louisville, KY 40212

OR

Refugee Elder Program
c/o Jenny Heineken Johnson
Kentucky Refugee Ministries
969B Cherokee Road
Louisville, KY 40204

As always, we will accept monetary donations as well.  You can click on the 'Donate Now' button or send your donation to:

Refugee Elder Program
c/o Jenny Heineken Johnson
969B Cherokee Road
Louisville, KY 40204

And don't forget that we recently created a Wish List on Amazon.com; click here to see our Wish List!