November 2010 to April 2011: What If to Better Together
We all know the narratives by now. “Different religions can never get along.” “Organized religion is stupid or useless.” “Faith only breeds hatred and mistrust in the world.”
But at Hamline, we know that’s not true! We know that our faiths and traditions can be better together, and we know that it all starts with a question: “What if?” What if people of all faiths and traditions came together to do good work? What if Muslims and atheists, Christians and Hindus, Jews and Sikhs, all came together to share our stories and change the world? What if we all chipped in, learned to get along, and helped our communities together?
In November, we asked, “What if?” On a rainy Wednesday night in November, over thirty members of the Hamline community and guests all came together to share food, conversation, and stories. All around me, I watched as people of all genders, racial and ethnic backgrounds, and religious traditions bent their heads together to talk, ask questions, listen, and learn. All around me, the conversation just kept coming. People wanted to talk. People wanted to help. And we wanted to do it.
In December, we formed a partnership with Taking Root, an interfaith refugee resettlement program, to prove that our religious and cultural traditions really are Better Together! We kicked off on December 15, when a young widow named Paw Say and her children arrived in Minnesota. They were Christian Karen refugees from Burma, persecuted and displaced in their home countries by religious and ethnic violence. Upon arriving, a multilingual and interfaith team met them at the airport and took them to their new apartment. There, they were welcomed into a fresh, clean apartment, complete with furniture, beds, kitchen supplies, food in the fridge, welcome kits, and school supplies for the children! Taking Root has provided additional financial and life skills support ever since. Today, they are on their feet and part of Minnesota’s international culture.
I am proud to say that I, along with another Better Together member Adam Zagoria-Moffet, helped volunteer to make it happen. Along with other volunteers and a mountain of donated goods, we spent several hours moving and sprucing up the family’s apartment. After lugging furniture, putting together beds, stocking the kitchen, and more, we finally called it a day and surveyed our handiwork. That weekend, they would be reunited with their family. The whole family would get to enjoy the new apartment that I had helped pull together. Everyone would get the best Christmas present ever, and a sustainable one at that, all because of interfaith service work.
So we kept doing it! In February and March, we held awesome monthly interfaith meals and did group interfaith service projects! We ate great food, heard stories, watched films, learned, donated, and volunteered!
Februarys smash hit interfaith meal
Februarys group interfaith service project!
Marchs (even bigger) interfaith service project!
Just in those two months, we collected:
- Eight garbage bags of clothing
- Three or four warm winter jackets
- Two or three boxes of diapers
- Countless baby supplies
- Tons of household items
- and a TV!
We also packed eight big welcome kits for eight new apartments, including bathroom kits and kitchen kits, pots and pans, utensils, shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, and more! And we’ve volunteered for a total of over twelve hours of service work, helping to spruce up and move in:
- Paw Say and her children
- Abdi, a young Somali man who was reunited with his family here in Minnesota
- Ker Ner and Paw Tar Shu, a young couple our age, who are expecting their first baby next month.
And in April, we wrapped up our campaign with our Better Together + Taking Root Finale: Raffle and Art Show! We collected an unbelievable amount of donations, ate more amazing food, shared some inspiring stories, participated in our collaborative art project, and gave away prizes. We finally proved the success of our interfaith collaboration!
This photo doesn’t do it justice, but we collected a HUGE amount of donations! As you can see, we collected toilet paper, baby supplies, household items, kids’ toys and games, household hardware supplies, and more! This picture doesn’t show the additional four big garbage bags of clothing that were donated by Safety and Security, Kaitlyn Ripley, and others by the end of the night!
Donations!
People ate, talked, checked out our art project, and added their contributions!
Margaret Crenshaw telling her story about volunteering with refugee youth, and the power of the Better Together campaign to help relate to their experiences.
Jenna Kallestad discussing her experiences interning with public schools, working with young refugee children, and developing an interest in interfaith refugee resettlement. Now, she works as an intern for Taking Root!
Our huge collaborative art project, to which people added their thoughts and prayers throughout the night!
Prize winners won gift cards to The Ginkgo, Target, and the Hamline Bookstore! Yay!
Over the weekend, Hamline students also donated and volunteered for a new Karen refugee family, Dah Bu (father), Hser Mi (mother), Lah Lah Doo (daughter, 12 years old), Peh Mue (daughter, 11 years old), Chit Koe Nai (son, 9 years old), and Paw Eh Mui (daughter, 4 years old).
Final thoughts: I feel like Hamline University finally understands the real value of asking questions, rocking the boat, changing the narrative, and working together for the common good. Now, the groundwork is set for future interfaith collaborations. Now, we can truly move forward together and make Hamline University a centerpiece of interfaith service!
Thank you all for your part in it, and I hope you’ll join us for next year’s events! We are currently working with the Interfaith Council and The President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge to plan next year’s Better Together campaign. See you then!
