Lizzy- Freedom House- Day Two

Our first night at Summer in the City, the organization hosting us all week was perfect. Elizabeth, our
main correspondence, immediately worked hard to ensure we all felt welcome. She suggested an article
about political asylum for us to read and assured us that anything they had in the house was at our
disposal. After spending ten minutes reading her recommended article, we were mostly confused: the
article highlighted our ignorance, which was an important reality check before we arrived at Freedom
House the next morning. We spent about 45 minutes discussing what we didn’t understand about the
article, and I felt nervous about the upcoming week.

The next morning, Katie, the program coordinator of Freedom House, spent about two hours explaining their mission, logistics, and problems with seeking political asylum in the United States. I asked at least twenty questions during her explanation, but by the end of her debrief I felt comfortable getting to know the people who lived in the house. I couldn’t help but notice the occasional face pop in the glass window of the door, indicating that the people of Freedom House seemed as anxious to get to know us as we were to get to know them.

She had explained that Freedom House is its occupants’ first American family, but the familial
atmosphere still caught me by surprise. Deb, the program director, explained that someone’s personal
belongings were almost always left unattended because of the communal trust they have developed in
the house. Children called many adults in the house mom or dad, which made determining family trees
difficult, but also were an undeniable sign of their closeness.

I very quickly developed a friendship with an eight year old from Uganda, A., and her little sister C. I was originally helping A. with her reading homework, but by the end of the evening was crawling on the floor with the two girls. During dinner I met a 39 year old from Rwanda, who was exceptionally outspoken and idealistic. It didn’t take long for this former-activist to ask each of us what we would say to President Obama if we could only talk to him for 60 seconds. Though most of the residents spoke French natively, they seemed eager to develop relationships with us and were all extremely intelligent.

The evening was filled with community dinner and watching the KU game with the Freedom House
residents. During our break we took some quick trips to Greek town and exploring Little Mexico (where we lived), and already were surprised by the friendliness encountered in a city with such a dangerous reputation.