Refugee Ministry

November/December 2009

Small Non-Profit in Vermont Makes Big Impact in The Lives of Refugees, Immigrants and Asylum Seekers

Rural Vermont may not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of services for survivors of torture, newly arrived refugees and immigrants. Since its inception in 1987, Vermont Immigration and Asylum Advocates (VIAA) (formerly Vermont Refugee Assistance), has helped thousands of newcomers from all over the world resettle in Vermont.

Patrick Gianotonio of VIAA (middle)
Patrick Giantonio of VIAA (middle), Dr. Mary Fabri of the Marjorie Kovler Center (far right), and other "Building NESTT" conference organizers.

VIAA, is a grassroots volunteer based nonprofit that works with asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants. Their long list of programs includes everything from client based legal and general assistance, to direct advocacy on public policy. “Although I provide the legal council, I consider our clients to be partners”, said Patrick Giantonio, Executive Director of VIAA. “Even though this work is quite challenging, I feel so blessed to be able to share in this process, and when we win an asylum case, is the greatest feeling in the world.”

Their newest initiative, known as the Torture Survivors Program, developed out of a growing need among clients for services and treatment resulting from experiences of torture. This program is funded in part by the UMCOR Refugee Assistance Grant.

The Torture Survivor Program was developed to enhance the healing and functioning of torture survivors, as well as their families and communities. While it is estimated that between 5% and 35% of all refugees are survivors of torture, VIAA estimates that close to 70% of their most recent asylum cases are survivors of torture. Over the years VIAA found that many clients were suffering silently while symptoms of their past traumas would emerge in various and disruptive ways.

The program is designed to help with both the psychological and medical needs, helping the survivor navigate the asylum process (i.e. being able to retell their story in a convincing and consistent manner, without experiencing further trauma), and all the legal aspects of the case. This includes identifying and providing trainings for health professionals to do evaluations to support asylum claims.

In late September 2009, VIAA in collaboration with the National Partnership for Community Training (NPCT) held a three-day conference designed to launch the New England Survivors of Torture and Trauma Program (NESTT). The training, titled “Building NESTT” was attended by approximately 160 people from all walks of life all committed to the common cause of meeting the needs of torture survivors. Medical professionals, mental health professionals, legal specialists, and social workers, participated in a range of seminars. According to Patrick “the training was a huge success, and this is only the beginning of what we hope will be a strong network of committed professionals all working to help better the lives of torture survivors.”

Mojdeh Rohani presenting at "Building NESTT", on the role of the social worker.

Patrick says VIAA recently received more good news. “One exciting new development with our torture survivor program as it relates to NESTT and Connecting Cultures (our partners at UVM) - is that we were recently funded by the Office of Refugee Resettlement as one of the 25 programs that provide services to victims of torture. This is a 3 year grant and VIAA will provide the legal services - Connecting Cultures the psychological services. We are building collaborative partnerships to provide the medical/physical and also social services.”

Congratulations VIAA!

Your gift to New Hope for Newcomers, UMCOR Advance #901779 helps us help organizations resettling refugees, like VIAA

The UMCOR Refugee Ministry office recently forwarded a grant from our Refugee Response Advance #982540 to Church World Service for an emergency situation. Two vulnerable Iraqi refugees - an elderly woman and her adult daughter with Down syndrome - had been placed temporarily by International Organization for Migration (IOM) in a hotel in New York. IOM was looking for any resettlement office in the country to accept this family, even though they were not technically a “resettlement case”.

The family had been officially “resettled” a year ago in Buffalo; however a number of factors forced a return to Syria (where they had fled earlier from Iraq). After a year in Syria they encountered so much difficulty that their relatives put them on a plane back to the US. With no notice, and no one to help at the hotel, IOM called Church World Service. The Church World Service affiliate office in Indianapolis agreed to take the case. Since the affiliate will not receive a resettlement grant to support them, the family is considered a “long term assistance situation”.

The Refugee Ministry Office of UMCOR received a request from CWS to help with travel money to fly the family to Indianapolis. We were able to respond with funds donated through the Refugee Response Advance #982540. Please consider donating to this advance, so that UMCOR may continue to help the most vulnerable newcomers.

The first new resource is our Facebook group, titled “UMCOR Refugee Ministry Office”. If you are already a member of Facebook you can just log in and do a search for "Refugee Ministry Office" and join. If you are not on Facebook, you can join in a matter of seconds (it’s that easy!) The Facebook Group will provide a way to live up to the mission of the United Methodist Church as a connectional Church. It is an easy way to share information, but most importantly allows us to dialogue directly with one another.

The second resource is an electronic "Refugee and Immigration toolkit" intended to provide an introduction and suggestions for people appointed by their UMC Conference to work on Refugee and Immigration issues. The content is broad and might also be useful for all those who are involved in working with refugees and/or immigrants, so please take a look. The toolkit can be accessed right on the UMCOR website, or click here to be taken directly to the landing page.

As always we want your feedback, so feel free to email with any comments, questions, or suggestions: UMCORRefugee@gbgm-umc.org or 212-870-3888.

You’re the experts – we need to hear from you!

Thanks from the UMCOR Refugee Team

Share your thoughts and photos:

UMCOR Refugee Ministry
475 Riverside Drive, Rm. 330
New York, NY 10115
Tel: 212-870-3888
umcorrefugee@gbgm-umc.org

Our Work

Refugee Ministry Newsletter Archives

Meridian United Methodist Church Supports"Miracle of God Singers"

Members of “Miracle of God Singers” survived the 2004 Gatumba Massacre and now are safely residing in the US.

One DR Congo refugee said recently, “In the Congo we (the Banyamulenge Tribe) were not considered citizens of DR Congo even though our people had been in the Congo for 500 hundred years. Yet in the United States of America we can become citizens in 5 years.”

Two years ago the Meridian United Methodist Church in Meridian, Idaho welcomed four Banyamulenge Congolese families (and four months ago a fifth family) to the USA and into our congregation. The Collister (Boise) UMC also has 2 families in their congregation. They are looking forward to becoming US citizens. They will finally know what it feels like to ‘belong’ in a country.

As the Refugee and Immigration Coordinator (RIMcor) for the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference, I committed to co-sponsor a widowed, disabled father and ten children that were coming to Boise, ID. Within two weeks we learned that his older brother, his wife, three children and a grandchild were also coming, along with his oldest son, his wife and four children. Then there were four orphaned teenagers from the same village (now living with a family in our congregation).

They all wanted to join our church right away because they had been UMC members in the DRC and Burundi (while they lived in the refugee camp). I taught an ELL SS class for several months, until the kids understood English well enough to follow directions in the regular classrooms.

All 30 were survivors of the Gatumba Massacre (August 13, 2004). When a Rebel Army from the Congo crossed the border into Burundi and entered the refugee camp singing Christian songs then pulled out their machine guns & knives. Our families lost many family members (wife, daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, aunts, and many more relatives) that dark night. Many of them still suffer from injuries acquired during the massacre – bullet fragment in the brain, severe limp, loss of fingers on one hand, etc.

The fifth family (relatives of the first three families) consists of a father, mother and two beautiful daughters. Kiza (the mom) lost the use of her right arm and they lost a son and daughter in the massacre.

We have been so blessed by having these families in our congregation. Shortly after they came we helped them form a gospel choir. Everyone can feel the spirit and their love of God when they sing. They chose to name the choir the “Miracle of God Singers” (they feel that it was a miracle of God that they survived the horrendous massacre).

We now have 32 of these delightful & grateful people in our congregation.

I wish that all UM Churches could experience the joy and love that we have felt during the process of helping these families get accustomed to our customs, laws, busy life style, language, driving a car, organizing all the “stuff” we give them, etc. This can happen by contacting the closest Refugee Resettlement Agency (Church World Service, SOAR, Agency for New Americans, etc.)

by Mary Lynne Ball, Refugee and Immigration Coordinator (RIMcor) for the Oregon-Idaho Annual Conference.