Drawing the Circle Wide
On Saturday, May 10th, Mike and Sue Sames organized a moving, successful fundraiser for the Welcoming Project entitled Drawing the Circle Wide. The Welcoming Project was formed in 2021 to resettle refugees here in Connecticut. It is comprised of a group of volunteers who want to make themselves and the community more welcoming. Volunteers are Christians, Jews, and Muslims, representing many different faith-based groups, as well as those who are not affiliated.
The Welcoming Project has resettled three Syrian families who had spent more than 12 years as refugees in places like Jordan and Lebanon. A new family just arrived last week, and we expect one more family at the end of this month. With federal funding cuts to resettlement agencies, private sponsor groups like this are the only viable means of supporting these families. After the US pulled out of Afghanistan, those who helped the US military fled their homeland. They are now facing imminent deportations in Pakistan and Albania. We are saving lives!
This community event was well attended and raised over $4000. Drawing the Circle Wide included the music of the Steve O’Brien Band and tables of donated auction items and lots of goodies. The highlight of the evening was the two speakers from Afghanistan who told us their own moving stories and shared those of others:
Najia Sherzad Hoshmand, Director of Refugee Resettlement
A Community Leader from Afghanistan, Najia has a vast experience in business and finance from Afghanistan. She is the Founder and President of Afghanistan American Community Center (AACC), a non-profit established to support and uplift the Afghan Community. She is also the Director of Refugee Resettlement with Patchwork Indy, a resettlement program in Indiana. She shared her harrowing escape from the airport in Kabul after the US pulled out. People were so desperate to leave that they tried to crawl onto the plane. She also shared that Afghans - men, women, and children - face a brutal death if they work for the US and are forced to return to Afghanistan.
Hamid Hemat, Exhibitions Manager
Hamid is a Curator, Visual Artist, and Art Manager currently serving as Exhibitions Manager at the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, where he supports the development process of diverse exhibitions. He earned an MA in Visual Arts from Kabul University, where he explored the rich heritage of Central Asian and Islamic art traditions. He told our group he picked Connecticut because it has four seasons, just like Afghanistan; the greenery and mountains of the Farmington Valley remind him of parts of Afghanistan.
After hearing from these speakers, Mike and Sue are more committed than ever to resettlement - when they look back on this moment in history, they want to know if they did all they could to save the lives of as many as possible. If you are interested in learning more and/or working with this amazing group of volunteers, please email Mike and Sue Sames.
-Eileen Brogan