“Each time I come up the stairs and I remove my shoes at the door, I feel like I’m home. I don’t have to worry about who I am when I come here. We’re all immigrants, survivors, and we share the same struggles. CERI brings all of us together.” - Roger Remera, Community Outreach Worker

While the light of fireworks can be a source of joy for some, for many survivors the booming explosions customary on July fourth can be viscerally triggering, activating memories of genocide, war, and violence. An elder from our women’s group recalled, “This year I got together with a group of friends for the fourth of July. When the fireworks started, all my friends shouted out, ‘the Khmer Rouge are coming!’” 

We’re also thinking about our Rwandan survivor relatives, as July 4th marks the end of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. Each year, the Rwandan people come together to remember "Kwibuka" and to honor the memory of more than one million Rwandans who were murdered in the hundred days of the Genocide against the Tutsi in 1994. Kwibuka is a period of deep mourning for survivors and their families, a time when the collective grief and resilience of a nation are acknowledged, and the memories of those lost are kept alive in the hearts of the living. (Read our past newsletter here for more information as well as poetry from staff member Roger Remera about this day.)

Aware of this reality, CERI works to create a haven where refugees and immigrant families, along with our caring staff, come together as one community. Here, healing happens when in our support groups, we share our survival stories and create art that reflects our resilience; when we drink coffee together and bond over planning our field trips and camping trips; when our days are filled with joy and laughter through birthday celebrations, graduations, and the joy of passing citizenship interviews; and, when we sing and dance together and share meals that highlight our diverse cultures.

Finding our way and making a difference in a time when there is so much death and injustice in the world can be hard; yet we choose to celebrate our community's courage and resilience, their ability to create joy, and their immense love for one another. To our readers and supporters, we thank each of you for the ways, big and small, you take action and help spread our work  of love, justice, and peace.