Easter Party

Lunch at Vietnamese Pho Restaurant

Hmmm...what to order?

Dessert!

Bean sprouts, basil, lime, and jalapeno pepper toppings

A group of us celebrated Easter today by having a delicious Vietnamese lunch and shopping for fresh fruits and veggies at a Korean market (H-Mart). Afterwards we enjoyed a time of fellowship with Joseph's homemade flan, Ellen's gourmet bread, warm cinnamon rolls, and hot Seattle tea.

Visiting the sick

Our house mate Enock was recently injured in a car accident. As with African asylum seekers in the past, he received a great number of visitors who came bearing meals. A group of women held a boisterous prayer service in his room that reminded me of revival services.

RHHP Easter egg coloring party

Easter egg toast!

Elvis egg? No, it's Gabby's profile of Tim...

We had an excellent turnout last night for our annual egg coloring party.

Another successful asylum application.

Cadeau, a former RHHP resident and ASHN client from Burundi, was granted asylum yesterday. He called to share the good news and came by for lunch. He works as a patient transporter in a hospital in Virginia and will be studying to be a registered nurse.

Our Congolese neighbors give a cooking lesson

Whipping up a batch of fufu.

He is very pleased with his fufu. They ate all of it.  

A meat dish with a tomato base. Somewhat like a stew.  Goes
very well with fufu.

Helping himself....

Recently, four Congolese guys from a couple of blocks away came over to our house to teach our new resident from Rwanda how to cook some food from that part of Africa. They pretty much took over the kitchen and whipped up a couple of delicious dishes including an enormous plate of fufu.  The kitchen was filled with the aroma of spicy tomato sauce and chatter in Kinyarwanda, one of the languages they have in common. They also did a very good job cleaning up.

Like most of our male asylum seekers, he was initially at a loss in the kitchen. He subsisted primarily on milk and cereal during his first week at RHHP except for food that other residents shared with him. Thanks to our Congolese neighbors, he is now preparing more substantial meals and is able to replicate the dishes his friends showed him. And like most of the asylum seekers before him, he will soon be cooking his favorite meals.

Introducing Nicole, our new house mate

Meet Nicole our Brethren Volunteer house mate from Hamburg, Germany. She works at Project PLASE, a Baltimore agency which serves the homeless. This is Nicole's first visit to the United States.

RHHP game night

RHHP residents and our friends from the Lutheran Volunteer Corp  Unit

Jamal, Marty and Jonathan stretching their brain cells over a game of Mastermind

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Adut, Atem and Pastor Dave. Atem and I were housemates at RHHP about 10 years ago when he and his brother first arrived in the US from South Sudan.  Adut, Atem's wife, is expecting a child and was a few days past due date.

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Jamal and Marty try their hands at cookie decorating

Hanging out in the kitchen

In lieu of a Christmas party, we had several friends of RHHP over last Saturday for an evening of fun, games and delicious snacks.