MEDIA ALERT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 15, 2006

Contact: Laura Green, (402) 346-6100 or 672-5815 (after hours), or
Kathleen Al-Marhoon, (402) 978-5646 or 968-0517 (after hours)

Before Bright Eyes Concert, Attend World Refugee Day Celebration at University of Nebraska at Omaha

Omaha, Nebraska -- Camping can be fun, but imagine what it is like to live in a tent for 5-10 years, sharing a common water supply and receiving meager food allotments each day with hundreds of other refugees. On Saturday, June 17th from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. you and your family can learn in a mock refugee camp what it is like for refugees to be screened for malnutrition, triaged for medical care, and given water from a water bladder.

“The mock refugee camp will educate visitors on what it’s like to have to flee your livelihood and home and then become dependent on others for your basic human needs,” said Laura Green, Sponsorship and Volunteer Developer for LFS’ refugee resettlement program. “It’s a situation 9.5 million around the world face on any given day.”

To celebrate World Refugee Day, Lutheran Family Service Heartland Refugee Resettlement staff will introduce you to things you’ve never seen, provide you with samples of food you’ve never tried, show you films that will help you better understand and appreciate the life of a refugee, and entertain you with the sounds of Africa.

“This day is to create awareness, but also to celebrate the rich heritage of these peoples and the diversity and strengths they bring to our communities,” said Green. “It’s a fun day for families with an important purpose behind it. We hope that those attending the Bright Eyes concert attend our event earlier in the day. It’s right across the street.”

Hosted by
Lutheran Family Services (LFS) Heartland Refugee Resettlement

Passage to a New Life: A World Refugee Day Event
Saturday, June 17, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Milo Bail Student Center & Lawn

University of Nebraska at Omaha – 60th & Dodge

• Experience a simulated refugee camp
• Taste African foods from 11:00 a.m. – 2 p.m. prepared by UNO food service
• Buy refugee-made crafts
• Learn about items refugees have brought from their homeland
• Find out about Omaha organizations impacted by and involved with refugees
• Honor, at 12:30 p.m., three ‘Friends of Refugees’ award winners
• Celebrate at 12:45 p.m. with Michael Opoku & the African Rhythm Makers, a drum, dance and choir spectacular featuring students from Beveridge and Skinner Magnet Schools
• See and discuss films about refugees:
  • 10:30 a.m. – Rain in a Dry Land
  • 2:00 p.m. – The Lost Boys of Sudan

No charge for admission. A “good will offering” to assist refugees resettled through Lutheran Family Services Heartland Refugee Resettlement is encouraged. For more information contact event organizer Laura Green, 346-6100.

Sponsors: Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, Omaha Public Schools, Church World Service, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Resettlement, University of Nebraska at Omaha Services Learning Academy
Supporters: Church World Service, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service

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