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Reaching Out to Our Muslim Neighbors

... SJA parishioner aids local project at Riverside Plaza.

Editors Note: Much has already and will be written about the events of September 11th, 2001. Sometimes the writing is as much for the writer's soul as for the reader. If any parishioners would like to submit their thoughts to the webmaster for publication, they will be seen on these pages. Submit to rhollj@bitstream.net.

Dear Friends:

40 blocks northeast of SJA, Riverside Plaza is home to the largest concentration of East Africans in Minnesota, most of whom are Muslim. I have had the wonderful opportunity to know some of the women living in the Plaza and have been taken by their graciousness. Many have experienced terrible atrocities as they fled their countries and difficulties since they have arrived. Yet their gracious smiles reach out to anyone who takes the time to ask them how they or their children are.

These refugees face a number of barriers here in Minnesota as they work their way out of poverty. Husbands work long hours to pay for the high cost of housing as their wives remain in apartments with their young children isolated from our society by many barriers. Since September 11, fear of attack because they are Muslim has been added to the barriers that keep these women from shopping for clothing and food, visiting friends, getting drivers' licenses, trying to find English classes, visiting their children's schools, looking for a job, etc. Since Tuesday, I have heard them caution each other not to venture out of the neighborhood. There is word circulating in Riverside Plaza that a Somali women was beaten with a baseball bat near the Riverside Plaza Resident Resource Center over the weekend at around 9 PM.

There is such a need for Christians to reach out with respect to those who choose Islam as their journey to God. There is such a need for our Muslim brothers and sisters to see that many Christians care about their plight. We must think of ways that we can build peace and justice together and we must do it now.

A grassroots collaborative that has been working in the neighborhood for over a year, FOLC, the Family Opportunities and Literacy Collaborative has trying to break down barriers and build pathways with these refugees. FOLC has applied for and received grants to start the Cedar Riverside Family School, which is due to open September 24. This school is a Family Literacy and work preparation program for refugee women and their children.

FOLC ran a very successful pilot from January to June of this year in preparation for opening the Family School. Six women from St. Joan's volunteered as homework helpers and childcare helpers. As homework helpers, the SJA volunteers met once a week for one hour in the homes of the women who were in the pilot. They helped them with their English homework.

Now, as FOLC starts the Family School, there is a great need for many more female homework helpers. I think that being a homework helper is a great way to begin to build relationships with these gracious women. If anyone has any other ideas about how to help the Muslim community, including the men, experience our gracious nature, I would be open to it. Please respond at jejjwat@qwest.net.

Thank You,
Eileen Watson
FOLC Coordinator