Refugees harvest hope in Pewaukee
St. Bartholomew's garden provides food for the soul
"I am at peace now," said Gaw Paw, looking over the huge garden she helped plant. The 68-year-old great-grandmother is a refugee from Burma. She and her family fled for their lives from the war-torn country, also known as Myanmar, and spent more than 10 years in a refugee camp on the Thailand border.
They had no electricity and no running water. The crowded camps offered little shelter, and diseases like malaria were commonplace. They had little hope for freedom and certainly, no sense of peace. What they did have, however, was a garden.
Through the support of humanitarian organizations and local churches, such as St. Bartholomew Episcopal Church in Pewaukee, Gaw Paw and her family escaped their unfathomable living conditions and have been living in Waukesha since 2007.
For the past 10 years, St. Bartholomew's has co-sponsored refugees and is currently committed to helping more than 20 immigrants from Burma, Afghanistan and Eastern Europe.
Last fall, several of the Burmese refugees asked whether they could start a garden on the church's property. Working and living closely with the land are important facets of the Burmese cultural heritage, and several of the refugees were farmers, their crops taken or destroyed by the military.
Tending a garden could help with grocery expenses in a toughening economic climate, would give the families something to work on and truly call their own and just might quench feelings of missing home.
"Providing a garden space for the refugee families was a great way for the whole community to get involved. It's one thing to sit in church together. It's another thing to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty together … and do it for someone else. The garden is a way to walk the walk," said the Rev. Tom Papazoglakis, priest at St. Bartholomew's.
Planting a seed
The refugee families were so excited about the idea of planting their own garden they simply could not wait until spring, said Gaw Paw. In early April one Sunday after church, parishioners taught them how to grow plants in seedling trays. The trays would be kept in the sunny spots of their small apartments for the next eight weeks until it was warm enough to plant outside. This was to be the first time they would finally have the chance to wriggle fingers in dirt, and also their first lessons in Wisconsin gardening.
Children used their fingers to poke holes in the dirt and then sprinkled the tiny seeds of cucumbers, carrots, peppers, radishes, peas, beans and sunflowers. Sets of onions and garlic were also planted.
Gaw Paw brought a clove of garlic up to her nose, breathed in deep and smiled. "It's not the same as where I used to live. Everything is different - the food and the weather. At home we have rice, bananas, papaya, mango, pineapple and flowers," said Gaw Paw. "I feel good planting together with everyone. I hope we share together what we grow."
Cow versus rototiller
In the meantime, a local farmer used his tractor and plow to break up the weed-choked and lumpy field that was to be the garden. Several men from the church taught some of the refugee men how to use the tractor and rototiller and all worked side-by-side, grading the earth, picking rocks and erecting a tall fence to keep the deer and other critters out of the garden.
"I liked learning how to use the machines," said Burmese refugee Tin Hla. "It's different than in my country because we use a cow to help dig the ground … and for fertilizer," he added, laughing.
Tin Hla's brother was killed in Burma by the military, and his elderly father still lives there. "My father loved to grow plants a lot. He was a farmer and also worked in a hospital. I will be so happy when we see the plants finally growing because in my country, we were always surrounded by plants. We will remember home, and we will be happy," he said.
Members of St. Bartholomew's and the community donated all of the materials needed, such as seed, plants, fencing, hoses and gardening tools. The church's youth group even created a stepping stone path leading to the garden and also dug a swale to improve drainage in the low-lying area. Finally, a wooden gate adorned with a simple wooden cross was hung and the 50-by-50-foot refugee family garden was ready to plant.
Sharing the Bounty
As the end of summer draws near, the refugee family garden is a lush kaleidoscope of vegetables, herbs and colorful blooms. Pole beans have entwined their tendrils up and around the garden's 4-foot-high wire fence. The corn and sunflowers are taller than Gaw Paw and tomato plants bow low, burdened with blushing red fruit.
Cucumbers have been sliced, squashes roasted and cilantro snipped into Burmese recipes to sample. Flowers nurtured from tiny seeds decorate the church.
Rick Knuese is a part of the refugee family ministry and helped make the garden a reality at St. Bartholomew. "This garden benefits the families at so many different levels. Not only is it putting food on their tables, it is also giving them an opportunity to learn new skills. It is giving them a feeling of doing something useful and a sense of accomplishment," said Knuese. "It's not just the garden. It's everything we are doing with this ministry. We are witnesses to their journey, and it is a blessing to watch it."
The families plan to give the extra food to the Pewaukee Food Pantry. Gaw Paw wanted to donate the first basket of beans because it is the Burmese custom to give the first fruits of the harvest to others in need.
"I feel happy. We plant it, and now we eat it," she said. The matriarch takes off her glasses and wipes her eyes with her fingers. "I miss my home more - my daughters, my friends, the big river in Thailand where we fish and swim. But I am also happy."
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