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Would you?


Wilbur

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1 minute ago, Wilbur said:

Supposing you had a spare bedroom, would you welcome a refugee into your home, knowing nothing about them and not speaking the same language?

I don't even like relatives staying over.    I think from a distance, it's hard for me to imagine doing this and I'd look to contribute in other ways.  If I was actually in the middle of a crisis city, I suspect I would do more than I imagine now.

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39 minutes ago, Wilbur said:

Supposing you had a spare bedroom, would you welcome a refugee into your home, knowing nothing about them and not speaking the same language?

I speak Canadian, are you thinking of inviting me up?

Just kidding, invite that Ukrainian prostitute to live with you!

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No, no more than I would take any other person whom I didn't know arbitrarily into my home.

A person being a refugee may make them a person in need, but it does not make them the type of person I would welcome into my home.

There are other ways to help refugees other than to welcome them into your home, and I would take advantage of those avenues first.

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16 minutes ago, ChrisL said:

I’m very cautious of who I let in my home.

That makes sense.  I think when people hear "refugee", they automatically think 'human puppy' with sad eyes that will show endless gratitude and be a model citizen.  Before you know it, all their weird Borat-like Ukrainian friends they make will be eating your food and leaving you upper deckers after doing shots like back home.

I still would at least consider it, though, those folks have been through some stuff and probably need to catch some sort of break.  Plus, they would probably be fun to drink with and would probably help around the house a bit.  It is a decent thing to do in an indecent world.

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We took in a foreign exchange student many years ago.  It went well. Most do, but some don’t work out. There was a girl who was hot as she was crazy. She went through 3 host homes that I know of. She needed help. Our theory is the parents sent her abroad so they could take a break and figure out what to do with her. 
We took in one of youngest daughter’s best friends for a semester. Her parents were divorced and mom got into drugs in a bad way. The friend was so grateful to have a warm shower and not have to go to somewhere to have light to complete her homework. The mom was later arrested for dealing meth. 
Her dad had moved out of state after the divorce and remarried. They asked if she could stay with us her last semester of high school rather than uproot her at that time. 
I hear the stories from refugees interviewed on NPR. These are not bad people. They are victims of circumstance. They just have a new sunroof or open concept home courtesy of the shelling. If asked, I think we would open our door for a bit to help them get on their feet again. 

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1 hour ago, donkpow said:

No but in the Ukranian situation, I'd buy a trailer and give to them. All others are on their own.

So, the guest room became Jr. Wife's room, the conservatory became her son's room, the yoga room became the conservatory/guest room, but, yes, we DO have a trailer.  I would hope they enjoy traveling.

When we took in the Jr. Husband, we hadn't yet met him.  Just phone conversations as part of his other job interview.  He didn't come with nearly as much stuff, but he did have 2 cats, a couple Macaws, and couldn't cook at all.    The first Jr. Wife came with almost no stuff, but she was only part time.

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With a time limit. But my place is too small.

Look, my parents sponsored relatives to immigrate to CAnada.  We did have a cousin stay with us. Although she is part of our extended family.it was still an adjustment for 3 months. There were 6 other children living at home.

We have in total sponsored:  5 different family groups over  25 yr. period....all via my father as the sponsor, and I helped type up some of the immigration forms.  These relatives came to  my father's funeral..grateful to him.

I know we're talking about refugees..but honest what some immigrants bring over, is very little also. Just refugees are experiencing a different type of shock that can be more long lasting.

I would though recommend being involved in some way....I think it's for people to understand at ground level at the most personal level, what it  is  like to be in shock for months and what it means to rebuild one's life in a foreign country.

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Some of the women I play hockey with played a couple tournaments and did some training weeks with a Ukranian women's team.  They got to be quite good friends.  When this all started, they tried tracking them down, only found a few so far.  Some are out of Ukraine, with nothing but the clothes on their (and kids) backs living in hotels.

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I had another cousin and her 2 children stay with me for 2 months in the same apartment when I was studying at university.  They just immigrated from mainland China, a rural village.  So life was very different.

I was teaching the children some English phoenetics and words...to me, ESL was old hat.  Since I underwent ESL too, so long ago.

 

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6 hours ago, Wilbur said:

Supposing you had a spare bedroom, would you welcome a refugee into your home, knowing nothing about them and not speaking the same language?

Yes, we need longer tables not higher fences. I would likely put in a locked door off the mud room so they could have privacy and each some security. 

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18 hours ago, Airehead said:

Yes, we need longer tables not higher fences.

This. 
The most profound gratitude expressed by the refugees I’ve met is that we offer help without demanding cash payment. They’ve said that everyone is on the take and it’s common to have to pay on the front side for help and then on the back side so they don’t turn them over. Until they get to the US crossing. Getting picked up and detained by ICE is a welcome experience of rights, something they didn’t have at home or on the journey. 

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People on a Quaker group I belong to are offering housing using this site designed by two college students at Harvard. I can sign up but is it really an option for the refugees?  Especially those in the UK are offering. There are some people signed up from NY. 
 

https://www.ukrainetakeshelter.com

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On 3/15/2022 at 2:21 PM, Wilbur said:

Sadly, there are going to be a lot of single women. 

I just watched a clip on one of the pom-pom cable news stations that interviewed a woman that in a flash her husband and 7 others were dead when a missile exploded and took them all out.  Her arm was all bloodied and bandaged and she said the blast caused her husband's head to explode and blood was just spurting out all over the place.  Jesus.  I can't imagine.  Fuck Putin.  Even the Russian soldiers are getting shot by the back lines if they try to return from the front lines.  Same WWII tactics being used -- while that fat asshole is eating a steak and drinking wine somewhere safe behind his 20 foot table.

Edited by Dottles
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