By Alfonso Aguilar
Herald Staff Writer
(From the issue of 1/22/04)

A family of 14 who escaped death from the barbaric Taliban regime in Afghanistan joined the celebration.

With the presence of many refugees that benefited from its multiple services, the Diocese of Arlington Office of Resettlement held an open house last Saturday to welcome strangers in Northern Virginia.

In addition to many refugees, most of them from Africa, nearly 25 volunteers from this office joined the event and shared their experiences helping refugees who have settled in this area.

"This is a great day for all of us," said Executive Director Seyoum Berhe, a native of Ethiopia, in welcoming visitors to the open house.

Berhe’s office served 900 refugees in just one of its programs last year.

The open house included a multicultural panel to share experiences and reflections on being a refugee or working with them to facilitate their integration to a new culture.

Internationally renowned African poet Gahlia Gwangwa’a also read some poetry from his books. "Why is Africa what it is now? My poetry has some answers," he said during his presentation.

Among the attendees were several families from Afghanistan who escaped death under the bloody Taliban regime, ousted two years ago by U.S. forces.

Mousa Haideri, head of one of these families, was killed, but 14 members of his family, including his wife, made it to Kabul, Pakistan, and stayed there seven difficult years until they received a visa to come to America last September.

Haideri Nawrozzade, an uncle of Haideri family and a 20-year resident of Virginia, sponsored his family with the assistance of the diocesan office.

"Had it not been for all the help I got to bring my family, especially from this office, many of them might have been killed," said Nawrozzade, whose reunion with relatives included an 11-year-old boy named Jamil and a niece who brought a pencil-drawn portrait of her executed father.

Since its inception in 1975, this basement-level office, located in the Diocesan Center, has settled over 16,000 refugees in Northern Virginia.

It is estimated that more than 1,100 new refugees arrive in the area each year. Most of them are from Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, Iran, Eritrea, Vietnam, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Russia, Liberia, Congo and Sierra Leone.

Among other services to refugees and their families, the office offers counseling and acculturation, housing, furniture, transportation, referrals in social, health and education issues, English as a Second Language classes, interpretation, immigrant services, employment services, and citizenship classes.

During Berhe’s tenure the office has dramatically expanded from three employees four years ago to 17 now, and from almost $100,000 annual budget to $1 million.

"These offices have no resemblance with the past," said a stunned woman while touring the new offices, filled with African arts and crafts, posters of refugees from around the world and pictures taken by Brazilian photographer Sebastiao Salgado.

Humbly, the director gave all the credit "to my staff. I have the best staff ever. We are moving in the right direction."

Ann Meier, coordinator of a research project about diocesan ethnic groups, praised the staff. "They are extremely happy and unique, very committed to their mission."

The office welcomes people of all races, nationalities and creeds, and serves them "not because our clients are Catholics or because we desire for them to convert to Catholicism. Rather, we serve because we are Catholics."

The Diocese of Arlington Office of Resettlement is an affiliate of the United States Catholic Conference Bishops/Migration and Refugee Service. It is located at 80 North Glebe Rd, Arlington, Va 22203.

More information or on how you can be a member of the Volunteer Resettlement Team or make a contribution, call 703/524-2154 or visit ww.voluntermatch.org