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This week we’re hosting a Burmese refugee family as they resettle in the US from Malaysia, where they had been on the move for some time.  Specifically, they’re Chin people, which is a large ethnic group whose home state on the western border of Burma has been devastated by persecution from the infamous SPDC, a brutal military regime if there ever was one.  Described as “forgotten people” by Human Rights Watch, much like their southeastern counterparts the Karen, widespread human rights abuses have gone largely unnoticed by the international community.  But scores of Chin people have been scattered around the world because of refugee resettlement programs, and last night a family of three showed up on our doorstep, one day “early” since Chris had confused their arrival date.  Surprise!

After some initial embarassment over misreading the calendar, we scrambled to tidy the house and prepare a meal while the family went through their usual host home orientation- this is the hot water, here is the toilet, this is the shower, and so on.  They are very close in age to our family; both the parents are in their early 30s, and their son is 16 months old, just two months older than Jonas.  We’re waiting to see if Jonas will play nice; hopefully we can avoid any awkward toy-stealing tantrums.

If any neighbors would like to help with meals, we’d love the assistance this week.  In addition to hospitality, they’ll need help learning simple tasks like riding the bus, going to the grocery store, opening a bank account, and so on.  We’re hoping to take them to the zoo or at least to see some local sites as they adjust to this new place.  It all can be a bit overwhelming, as I’m sure you can imagine.