Amanda Lane, Executive Director Collateral Repair Project
2018 Site Visit to Hope Beyond Displacement - Part II
It’s not often that CRP hosts visiting groups to our center. If you keep up with our website or busy Facebook page, you have an idea of the constant stream of activities going on at the center and maybe also intimate just how much our staff constantly keeps on their toes—juggling a variety of tasks with hardly a moment’s break. Sure, the odd groups of study-abroad students might come for an hour or two to get a quick overview about the way we work and have a short Q&A session, but our community center’s packed schedule and busy activity rooms often keep us from hosting visitors interested to learn more about our work.
From the moment I attended the annual conference in Mumbai, where CRP was announced as FAWCO’s Target Project, it was clear to me that CRP’s partnership with FAWCO was going to be something special. I know I speak for all of our staff in saying that our work is often difficult—it’s easy to not only feel like it is a drop in a huge ocean of need but also like we’re all alone and trying to help people the world has forgotten. Meeting so many of you in Mumbai was more than heartwarming; your enthusiasm for what we do and great interest in talking to me and learning more about CRP came with an excitement that confirmed to me the importance of our mission as well as FAWCO members’ genuine care and support. More than anything, I knew you understood us—and that we had to get a FAWCO group to Jordan to see for themselves what a special place our center is and share what I knew were going to be amazing results from our upcoming project together.
But 22 visitors over three days? That was something we had never done before, but a very exciting prospect. I remember Tricia Saur, Therese Hartwell and I tentatively voicing the idea that we should have a group visit and then more and more animatedly discussing and creating the outlines for a trip that was beginning to organize itself out of thin air. Hope Beyond Displacement was going to make a huge impact on our community, and because of FAWCO’s support for our multi-pronged approach both to our work in general as well as Target Project activities, getting visitors well acquainted with the whole picture through an immersive experience could be amazing. The three of us were sold.
Then came a massive amount of planning, thanks to Tricia and her team. All of us at CRP were excited--and more than a little nervous. As I mentioned, hosting over 20 people for more than an hour or so was a brand new prospect for us so, for starters, we were on tenterhooks about our logistics working out. Our center is certainly not the fanciest place, and we were all hoping it would be comfortable enough for everyone. But there are also frequent “wild cards” at the center—sudden large numbers of refugees arriving to request assistance, a scheduling mix up, a refugee staff member having to unexpectedly leave work for a UN interview—you name it, and we’ve probably seen it. We just wanted to make sure that everything went as smoothly as possible.
And you know what? The visit went swimmingly. Our guests were the loveliest, most gracious women I’ve ever encountered. It was great, great fun to spend time with them, show them around the center, and witness the many wonderful interactions they had with our staff and refugee community. Happily, the only real wild card came on that first day, when our group lunch was an odd dish I have never encountered in the Arab world that was a large platter of rice topped with chicken pieces and French fries. A true carbohydrate overload!
We spent three days together at the center and the groups reconfigured into smaller groups to do a variety of activities: learn about CRP’s service model approach; spend time with our Super Girls; meet with our education team; get their hair, nails and make-up done with our beauty trainees, and much more. I’m so happy that we truly had that nice amount of time to spend together, because it enabled the group to really see what our work is about and to experience first-hand the great excitement and impact that the Target Project has brought to Collateral Repair Project and hundreds of refugees and their families.
Another reason why I’m grateful for the visit is because it was a real opportunity for me, my staff, and volunteer community leaders to reflect on the work that we do. As I mentioned, our heavy workload means that we’re nearly constantly in motion, and the three days we spent talking about our work, introducing the group to people whose lives have been changed at CRP, and connecting the dots to explain our values and how this work has also changed our lives was nothing short of a gift. We don’t often take the time to stop, breathe, and just experience the moment, and the opportunity to do so over those three days has been a source of great invigoration for all of us as well as an affirmation that whatever small part we are playing to help refugees in need is meaningful.
In our last session together, I remember looking around the room as Therese presented the beautiful quilt made from Hope Workshop embroidery squares to the members. Seeing their joy, the tears glistening in many of our guests’ eyes, and feeling myself tear up, I was reminded once again of how lucky we are to have become connected to FAWCO. FAWCO has been the greatest driver of CRP’s growth this past year and, as I suspected last year in Mumbai, our relationship is indeed something special. It is a partnership of the heart.
Update IV - June 2018
It’s not often that CRP hosts visiting groups to our center. If you keep up with our website or busy Facebook page, you have an idea of the constant stream of activities going on at the center and maybe also intimate just how much our staff constantly keeps on their toes—juggling a variety of tasks with hardly a moment’s break. Sure, the odd groups of study-abroad students might come for an hour or two to get a quick overview about the way we work and have a short Q&A session, but our community center’s packed schedule and busy activity rooms often keep us from hosting visitors interested to learn more about our work. 
Then came a massive amount of planning, thanks to Tricia and her team. All of us at CRP were excited--and more than a little nervous. As I mentioned, hosting over 20 people for more than an hour or so was a brand new prospect for us so, for starters, we were on tenterhooks about our logistics working out. Our center is certainly not the fanciest place, and we were all hoping it would be comfortable enough for everyone. But there are also frequent “wild cards” at the center—sudden large numbers of refugees arriving to request assistance, a scheduling mix up, a refugee staff member having to unexpectedly leave work for a UN interview—you name it, and we’ve probably seen it. We just wanted to make sure that everything went as smoothly as possible. 
