I am on my third week of working from home due to our state’s Shelter at Home mandate due to Covid-19. There is both good and bad to this.
The Good – I really do like my home office. As I already work remotely from the IAFR main office located in Minneapolis, my home office is where I started more than 5 1/2 years ago. With windows on two sides, I love the light that streams in on these spring days.
My wife has moved her business into our basement and she and my daughter are keeping very busy, doing their best to keep it sustainable in this challenging time. But we do run into each other regularly, as we navigate up and down the stairs. Being on this journey together, makes it seem more doable.
The Bad – Everything has changed. Yesterday I had to write a difficult letter to one of our partners in the Dzaleka Refugee Camp, informing them of an indefinite delay on a project that we are working on together. Canceled travel, concerns about future resources, challenges of individual’s commitment and attention to the project while dealing with the pandemic, and also the potential impact of Covid-19 on the refugee contexts in which work…all this has led to this delay.
These realities are true, not just in Dzaleka, but in many of the places where IAFR is present. As an organization that values relationship, showing up where the displaced find themselves, and looking to bring hope in difficult situations, we are now wrestling with what does our work look like at the moment.
And yet, with challenge comes opportunity. Working together with our refugee friends and churches in the Kakuma Refugee Camp, a plan, resources, and materials came together in a short amount of time, for these churches in the camp to become soap/water distribution sites. One small way to help fight against the Covid-19 potential. And we are looking at other similar opportunities.
So each day, my IAFR colleagues and I get up and despite our current reality, look for the chance to bring hope and tangible actions to those whom are most vulnerable.
