World Refugee Day at Our New Workshop

Monday, June 20 th , was World Refugee Day. According to the UNHCR (the United Nations refugee

agency), World Refugee Day is “an international day designated by the United Nations to honour

refugees around the globe.” It “celebrates the strength and courage of people who have been forced to

flee their home country to escape conflict or persecution.” (“World Refugee Day”)

Peace of Thread honors refugees and celebrates their courage every day in Clarkston, GA and

Chattanooga, TN. But we’re also doing it at a new location: the Learning Cottage at Grace Fellowship

Church on New Hope Road in Lawrenceville, GA. And we’re doing it with a new group of people:

Ukrainian refugees! On June 6 th , we began training six Ukrainian women referred to us by the Southeast

Co-Op.*

If you’ve been following the news for the past four months, you know that the Ukrainian people have

been devastated by war. Ukrainian refugees arriving in the U.S. have been through unimaginable

trauma. But World Refugee Day emphasizes that refugees are not passive victims of their

circumstances. Instead, they have “resilience in rebuilding their lives.” (“World Refugee Day”).

Refugees need help, but they don’t need to be “rescued” once they have reached safety. Instead, the

host country’s duty is to treat them with kindness and respect.

Kindness and respect are core to Peace of Thread’s ethos, and I saw that ethos on full display when our

new trainees came to the Learning Cottage on World Refugee Day. We hugged the artisans as they

entered. One of them showed off the quilt her sewing teacher had made for her in anticipation of her

new baby’s arrival. (See photo below). Another brought her baby with her, a reminder of Peace of

Thread’s commitment to welcome and empower families.

As always, the training session opened with prayer. And I saw immediately how our founder, Denise

Smith, gave dignity to our new friends. She invited one of them, G, to lead the prayer “in English or in

your language”-indicating that there’s no one “right” language to speak and pray in. G prayed in

Russian**. Though I couldn’t understand her, I was struck by the beauty of her words.

After the prayer, Denise explained to the refugees that many people in America wanted to help them by

donating stuffed animals, household decorations, etc. But many of the items people wanted to donate

were “trash” (broken furniture, for example). Denise emphasized that we only wanted to give them

“the very best.” She also said that she didn’t want any of them to feel obligated to accept an item they

didn’t want just because someone wanted to be kind. She wanted them to have the freedom to say

“no.”

This is important. Sometimes refugees are afraid to say “no” to assistance because they fear offending

their host communities. But being able to say “no” allows them to regain the agency they lost when

they were forced to flee from their home countries and gives them dignity. ***

After Denise’s talk, the artisans practiced making Jurdis (small wallets). The cottage was filled with the

whirr of sewing machines. Denise examined each Jurdi and offered gentle correction, emphasizing that

mistakes are a normal and acceptable part of the learning process. One of the women, M, did a great

job with her Jurdi.

“I’m so proud of you!” Denise exclaimed.

M’s face broke out into a big smile, and she high-fived Denise. M has a lot of work to do before she’ll

be able to “graduate” to a full seamstress but seeing her celebrate her accomplishment was another

reminder of the abilities that refugees have to succeed when a guiding hand comes alongside them.

No one knows when the war in Ukraine will end or what kind of condition the country will be in when

the fighting stops. But Peace of Thread will always be here for our new friends from Ukraine and all our

friends who have come to us from around the world. If you would partner with these women while

they rebuilt their lives, you can donate to Peace of Thread here. Or you can become a mentor and walk

alongside a woman personally, helping her to learn English and acclimate to life in America. No degrees

or special qualifications required! Just a desire to be a friend.

Happy World Refugee Day!

Citations

UNHCR - World Refugee Day Accessed June 20, 2022-An excellent place to learn more about this

holiday.

*For more background on how these new friends came to be with us, read the article "Making A

Difference: Ukraine Refugees Welcome" by Beth Volpert Johansen in the June 2022 digital issue of Our

Town Magazine. Pages 13 and 16.

** Although Ukrainian is the official language of Ukraine, Russian is both a common first and second

language. See Wikipedia article "Languages of Ukraine" for more details.

***To learn more about these important concepts, you can read the excellent book When Helping

Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert