BCOA
Bennington County Open Arms


From BCOA’s virtual desk…
Boy praying

31 March 2024

As our new Afghan neighbors in Bennington are celebrating the auspicious month of Ramadan with fasting and reflection, it is also an opportune moment for BCOA's internal reflection as an organization. You might have heard of the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis taught at the Harvard Business School. In my yogic practice, my teacher has encouraged us instead to use the SWAN model, considering Strengths, Weaknesses, Ambitions and Needs, as a tool for self-evaluation and meditation. Being at our ashram this past winter gave me ample time to apply SWAN to BCOA.

STRENGTHS

As with any volunteer organization, our strengths are really the volunteers who have participated for the past several years, allowing us to co-sponsor eight Afghan families and reunite several of their family members in Bennington. The dedicated core volunteers continue to ensure that these families are reaching a certain level of independence, whether it is driving themselves to the doctor, operating confidently within the American banking system, or building their skills in English.

In 2023, BCOA paid for the first and last month rents and security deposits for many of the new families arriving, thanks to a Health Equity Grant from the Bennington County Regional Commission.

One measure of total independence is that two families we co-sponsored have left Vermont to reunite with their extended families in other parts of the U.S. Though we were sad to see our friends move away, we are thrilled that they have reached a level of confidence to make such an important life decision.


cake

With help from BCOA volunteers, ECDC, Vermont’s Congressional delegation, the U.S. Department of State and the UN’s International Organization for Migration, two teenage sons of one of the families we co-sponsored, who were separated from their parents during the chaotic evacuation at the Kabul airport in August 2021, were reunited with their family on February 26. After 2-1/2 years of separation, tears and prayers, the boys landed at JFK airport, and they couldn’t have hugged their mother any harder! BCOA volunteers monitored their case and kept the parents informed each step of the way over the years, raised money to pay for their passports, and gave the family support and a sense of hope in the absence of news from the overburdened U.S. bureaucracy. You can read more about their story in the Bennington Banner here. (https://tinyurl.com/3rkbb2sx)

WEAKNESSES

I would say the shortage of a still larger group of available volunteers is one of BCOA's main weaknesses, which has impeded us from taking on new families or to deepen the services to the remaining families. Volunteer burnout is normal. We have found that successful volunteers find an internal balance between doing too much and feeling guilty for not doing enough, and the core team continues to work hard.

AMBITIONS

When we first started BCOA back in the summer of 2021, I had thought that we might sponsor only one family. But now, seeing the growing community of Afghans and refugees from other countries in Bennington County, I feel humble. Our goal has always been to work with the new Americans with dignity. More important than giving the refugees agency, our actions have to respect the individuals and not re-traumatize them again in America.

I don't see our services at BCOA as charity, but as a God-given opportunity for us to provide selfless service in order to learn about ourselves, and maybe, along the way, to burn some karmas while making a positive contribution to our community. Whatever are the countable benefits, BCOA at least has been able to bring down the average age of the Vermont population -- a tiny bit -- with 2 newborns and more on the way! And not to mention bringing in thirteen new workers who are helping ease Vermont’s labor shortage and paying federal and state taxes.

Going forward in 2024, a group of BCOA team members will be working to sponsor new arrivals through Welcome Corps of the U.S. State Department and Rainbow Railroad, based in Toronto now branching out in the U.S., an organization that helps LGBTQ+ individuals to escape violence and persecution in their home countries. We are looking for more helpers who feel inspired. And landlord(s) with an apartment for rent, please get in touch.

Rollercoaster

NEEDS

Of course, BCOA will continue to need the human and financial resources to do what we do. However, the BCOA ‘train’ will move at a pace that is in balance with our strengths, weaknesses, ambitions and needs in order to meet our mission of providing services with dignity. In the past, I saw BCOA as the engine that fuels a train -- adding more and more cabooses (families). Now with some experiences after 2 years, the more appropriate metaphor is a roller coaster, where each day can be filled with exasperating problems or happy emotions. We hope that with your continued support, financial or moral, that the ride will be smoother as we continue to do what one donor called "God's work”.

In solidarity,

Anandaroopa
Bennington County Open Arms
c/o The Dorset Church
P.O. Box 263
Dorset, VT 05251
BCOpenArms@gmail.com

Under the fiscal sponsorship of the Dorset Church (www.dorsetchurch.org),
BCOA operates as a volunteer-run non-profit organization with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.

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