Expanding Hope

The majority of our future growers were once farmers and have been waiting for an opportunity to grow again in the U.S.

S Barry is one of these refugees.

She has been growing her own little garden made of empty milk cartons on the back  porch of her apartment. Here she is with her Chin Baung plants. She acquired these seeds from her refugee friends that live in Des Moines. It really is amazing how resourceful refugees can be! Unfortunately, these Chin Baung plants will not grow any larger because of their small containers. The plants, when they reach their full potential, should be as tall and wide as S Barry.

Next year, when she has her own garden space the Chin Baung should reach their full potential, giving the Burmese refugees a little taste of home.

These Chin Baung plants are a lot like our refugees.  Unable to reach their full potential because the resources simply aren’t available and the obstacles too large. Our hope is that the plants will flourish and grow in this garden and that the Burmese women will do the same.

And that is what the garden is all about. Giving these women the tools to reach their full potential.

If you think you would like to donate to the cause, contact me at pstroessner@diojeffcity.org.  I will be making a budget page/tab here in the next few weeks so you can better see what the needs are and where exactly your money will be going.

Thanks for reading!

First Dollar Bills!

Today we received our first donation towards the Columbia Refugee Garden. It came from my good friend and past-coworker, Jenny

The money will go to purchasing our first load of compost for the new garden.

Also, an update on the process: We will begin to till the soil after the first plant killing frost. We will be patiently awaiting the day when my car windows need to be scraped!

Next post to come this week: a small profile of one of our future growers who has been waiting for well over a year to have an opportunity to farm again!

The Beginning…

Welcome to the Columbia Refugee Garden blog!

“What is the Columbia Refugee Garden?” you ask. It is a community garden of sorts that is designed to help Burmese refugee women climb out of poverty by doing something that is already familiar to them.

 Imagine fleeing your home and your livelihood  for your and your family’s safety knowing you may never return. Then flying to a town you’ve never heard of in a state you’ve never heard of in a country you only know about from newspaper clippings. Now you are here in that town. Everything you’ve known is behind you and very little that you know is in front of you. This is the situation of many of our refugees, especially the women. Many of these women have too many obstacles to employment to overcome. Also,  they are responsible for childcare while their husbands are working. Thus, they pass most of their days in Columbia without ever leaving their apartment complex.

The Columbia Refugee Garden is created to change this

This garden will bring a little bit of what they knew (farming) to them. Right here in our city. It will help the Burmese women to leave the confines of their apartment and engage in our community all while keeping their own traditions and cultures alive. And not only will those be alive but they will be shared with all of us though affordable and healthy vegetable and fruit produce.

While our economy is down, these women will find a way to use their skills and lift their family out of poverty.

Soon we will begin preparing the soil, and the exciting journey will begin! Be sure to check out the other pages on the blog to get a better idea of who we are, what the garden is, and how you can help.

A special thanks to Don, Steve, and Debbie and Broadway Christian Church for the land and support, Bill from MU Extension for your resources, knowledge and contacts, Mike the Intern for your skills, Mary Kate for the first pictures and everyone else who has taken an interest and made the refugees’ vision their vision.