There are many refugee young women who have made it to Memphis safely but have had to leave their families behind. These women are between the ages of 18 and 27. Most of them are not educated and do not speak English. They are vulnerable and could be at risk to being victims of sex crime, depression and suicide. Asha’s Refuge wants to help.

About 4-5 weeks ago a group of new young refugee women arrived to Memphis. When Deborah and I met them, they were very shy and afraid. They miss their parents, siblings, friends. They understand that there is a chance that it could take a long time for the rest of their family to be approved to come to the US if they ever come. There is an older new refugee lady who has taken a motherly liking to these girls. Her name, we will say is Ada. Ada allows the girls to all pile up in her home and sleep on her bed, floors and couch together so they are not so afraid. Some of the girls are having trouble sleeping at night and cry most of the night. Ada prepares each meal for the girls and divides up all their donations equally among them all. Even though Ada is also a newcomer and a little anxious, she fortunately speaks English very well and helps everyone to understand what is going on around them. She has a caring heart and she loves deeply. Ada has a displaced or broken hip that causes her to walk with a limp. She also has some other health problems she is struggling with. Asha’s Refuge wants to help Ada help her new young friends.

Most of the young women are doing okay emotionally, but there is one that is truly struggling. We will name her Kacy. Kacy cries all the time. She burst out into tears at any given moment. She ran out of one of our Friday English conversation classes to the bathroom to cry. Last week, Kacy expressed wanting to die and told some of the other refugee ladies how she planned to kill herself. This breaks my heart! This breaks Ada’a heart and it causes a lot of additional anxiety and fear for the other young refugee women. Kacy is being closely watched by her Case Manager, new friends and has been seen by a doctor. She is okay, but still struggling.

I’d like to ask for a prayer of hope for Kacy. I also have some specific requests for the young refugee group of women, Kacy and Ada. I’d also love to know if any of my readers or supporters has any day of the week that they could make them self available to help mentor and show care to any of these women. I’d like to collect encouraging cards and hand drawn pictures from children to encourage Kacy. Are there any college students that want to make a new friend?

Ada has requested laundry detergent (I already bought her some, but she will soon need more. I’d like to collect about 5-10 more bottles of liquid detergent. They often wash clothes by hand so the liquid is best for doing that). These women would probably love to have more flip flops/sandals sizes 7-9. There are about 8 women all together. They also could use long skirts, sizes small and medium mostly and one large. The skirts must be long enough to reach their ankle. Here’s a list:

-Liquid Detergent (ten)
-Flip flops/sandals (size 7-9; very lightly used or new only please)
-Tylenol/Motrin
-long skirts (size small to medium, one large, petite medium is good too)
-shirts, solid colors please to go with skirts…size small and medium
-feminine products
-Kroger/Aldi Gift Cards
-towels (bath towels, kitchen towels…new)
-bug spray (roach) (Ada wants the glue stuff…not sure what she’s talking about)
-welcome and encouragement cards (have your children draw Kacy and the other women an encouraging picture).

Please note that we have already had toiletries donated and we feel like the women are okay on those. Please also understand we are only collecting the specific items listed. You can also make cash/check donations to Asha’s Refuge to help these women and other disadvantaged refugees like them. Your financial support greatly helps us to continue to meet the needs of our refugee friends. Your donations can be dropped off at my house and put on my front porch for those of you that know my address. Financial contributions are tax deductible and can be mailed to our office at 1035 Winchester, Ste. A216, Collierville, TN. 38017. Contact us at jamie@ashasrefuge.org or deborah@ashasrefuge.org if you can help. Thank you in advance for your help.