Merrimack
Valley People for Peace
Serving the communities of the Merrimack Valley
- Iraqi Refugees in Lowell
- 2012-
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As of the end of November 2012, 22 additional individuals and families (totaling 83 people) from Iraq were resettled in Lowell, MA. There are now 54 families in Lowell and 8 families who have moved from Lowell to near-by communities – a total of 62 families. The families are political refugees -- individuals who have helped the United States in some way during the war and are targeted for assassination or kidnapping. The families apply for resettlement through the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Many of the families come directly from Baghdad. Some families had fled from Iraq and have spent several years in Syria, , Egypt, Lebanon, Turkey or Jordan and come to Lowell from those countries. They arrive with nothing but their two suitcases and hope for a safer and better life for themselves and their children. Most of them have parents and other family members still living in Iraq; some have family in Syria and other countries. No matter where your family is during conflicts of war, you are worried.
Computers are refurbished and given to each family. Once they get internet service, the computers are a life-line to their family back home. One generous man spends hours upon hours upgrading old computers and provides them as his gift to the new families who arrive. He is unknown by sight or name to the families, but each family benefits from his generosity. Merrimack Valley People for Peace has a small budget and we provide educational DVDs for the children, especially when they arrive and aren’t able to attend public school until they have received their medical clearance. Older analog TVs no longer work and MVPP also purchases a converter (converting analog to digital) and an antenna for each family so they can watch TV in English to improve their skills.
Many volunteers work with MVPP to provide essential household items that are not provided by The International Institute of New England/Lowell, the resettlement agency. An email is sent to about 50 interested volunteers every 4-6 weeks indicating items that families need. These include such items as cookware, dishes, silverware, curtains and curtain rods, rugs for the floor, small room heaters in the winter and fans/ACs in the summer . . . and many other items too numerous to list. We also try to find pictures for the wall and other items to make their apartments more like home. They have left so much behind when they need to leave in haste for their safety or the safety of their children. There are also people who volunteer to be friends with the family, to be a conversation partner to an individual or to occasionally drive a family for grocery shopping. Most of the families do not live near a supermarket. These many volunteers and interested people make a world of difference to the Iraqi families.
MVPP is also joined by First Parish Church in Bedford, who supports the families in many ways . . . by providing bus passes for high school students who live too far from the school to walk, purchasing winter boots for all new families, a hosting a supplementary diaper program and in other small and large ways. The involvement of First Parish is remarkable! Several other religious organizations are also involved.
MVPP is requesting
gift cards from our members and friends as a small recognition of our
friendship with the Iraqi families who arrived in 2012. We are glad the
families are nearby and we can become friends with them and help to ease
their adjustment to life in their new home.
If interested, contact Mary Todd at 978-687-7864
See
the website helpful to the Iraqis, hosted by the Unitarian Church
in Bedford MA
___________________________________________________
Merrimack Valley
People for Peace meets monthly, on the fourth Tuesday,
at 7:30 pm, at
North Parish Church, North Andover.
(NOT DECEMBER)
Contact
Merrimack Valley People for Peace (978) 685-1389
P.O. Box 573
North Andover, MA 01845
Send material to post on the website to brian@quirk.ws