Today has been very hot in Memphis, TN. It’s probably around 95 degrees. With the humidity, I think it feels easily over 100. Despite what most people think, most of my refugee friends from Africa are not use to this kind of hot weather. It’s very hot and humid to them and they are struggling to keep themselves cool with all their Islamic and cultural dress (scarves, long pants and wraps).

My friends from the highlands of Eritrea say it’s often colder and sometimes rainy. There are parts of Eritrea that are closer to the equator and severely hot I think but most of the Eritreans I have met are from the cooler climate areas in the highlands.

My friends from Somalia tell me the weather is either too cold or too hot. It snowed a lot in Memphis this past winter, which was very exciting and new for them to see. They say their weather is “just right” in Somalia which means about 75-80 degrees F. year round.

I haven’t heard a lot of Ethiopian refugees complain about the weather. I googled the Ethiopian climate to understand its temperatures a little better. I found that the central plateau area of Ethiopia stays cool, but the southern part of Ethiopia can have extremely hot temperatures (even up to 140 degrees F). Perhaps my friends from Ethiopia are not complaining because they are happy it’s not 140 degrees F! (I never usually spell out degrees but I don’t see how to put a little degree symbol on here with my typing board.)

My Burundi friends say it is very hot here in Memphis. They are use to either lots of rain or periods of droughts. They have a long drought season and a short drought season and then a long rainy season and a short rainy season. Their temperatures average about 68-73 degrees F. The Burundi’s seem to be the best at carrying large baskets of laundry or groceries on their heads. This makes me think they probably were use to walking long distances to find food and water and find unique ways of carrying the most they could on their bodies. (My Burundi friend, Jenna Rose, tried to teach me how to balance a 24 pack of Sprite’s on my head, but I just couldn’t manage to do it with as much ease as she could. I think my head is not so flat on top.)

Last week there was a mother of ten, Fadumo, who spent two days in the hospital due to severe dehydration. She had severe headaches and stomach cramps. We’ve had to teach the refugees about the importance of drinking lots of water. Access to clean drinking water isn’t something a lot of them are use to. I’m sure some of the refugees from remote areas and villages of Africa have found it very interesting to have clean water running from the taps in their kitchens and the faucets in their tubs. I am sure they are still careful with how they run it as not to waste it. I’ve kinda thought that our being careless with and wasting water would probably be something they would get a little annoyed with us about if they were around us more in our homes. I think my refugee friends could teach Americans something about being thankful for clean water.

There are always cultural things to learn for the refugees. It’s been neat to learn about their cultures, but since they are here, I feel like it’s very important to teach them our American culture. In a lot of ways learning about the cultural is part of their survival and successful resettlement. I would never want to try and change their culture though. My friends from other countries are truly beautiful people. I think Americans are beautiful people too. I think we could all help and enjoy one another if we could each learn to first “just love”.

(Note: “Just Love” has been a short quote I’ve been known for with my refugee friends. Refugees are often brought to live together in Memphis despite their tribal and cultural differences. There have been a few heated arguments and occasional fights between refugees and refugee families most often because of misunderstandings. I have been a successful advocate for peace between the refugees as I have stood in the middle of these heated discussions to promote love. Since most of the refugees cannot speak English, I’ve had to use my own sign language with them to communicate the action of love. Aside from trying to act in love myself to all people’s, I often cross my arms across my chest, tilt my head to the side and smile really big as I say, “Just Love”. The way I see it is the refugees are all in the same sort of situation no matter where they came from or how they got here. There is no one group of people better than the other. My God teaches me that He shows no favoritism and so I feel neither should we. A lot of my refugee friends understand my heart, and they want to try and comply. Some of them will even come up to me as they motion our “just love” sign. What an awesome God we serve!)

Here’s a picture of my friend Jenna Rose practicing her handwriting.