Sewa International Helps Volunteers Celebrate a Unique First Birthday

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Family with Sewa Team and guests from the community

HOUSTON: Sewa International has been working with the Bhutanese refugee population, in Houston for the last several years.Recognizing that many refugee children needed extra tutoring in order to succeed at school, Sewa set up a satellite office in Los Arcos Apartment to run after school homework classes for elementary school students. Through this program, Sewa Volunteers help more than 40 students on a regular basis.

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Rahul Rao, wife Priyanka and daughter Meera.

This holiday season, Sewa International helped to spread the joy of the season in the lives of these children from the less privileged backgrounds. Sewa Volunteers Rahul and Priyanka Rao expressed their desire to celebrate their daughter Meera’s first birthday with the refugee children who participate in the tutoring program in Los Arcos Apartments. Sewa team members facilitated the event and the Rao family donated money for the Chai pe Charcha bi monthly social event. The family also donated gifts to all the students that attended the event. It was a successful event attended by more than 75 people. Not only was it a unique way for the family to celebrate young Meera’s first birthday, it also celebrated the hard work of all the 45 students who come to the classes conducted by Sewa International.

Sewa provides volunteers opportunities to work with refugee families through structured programs like Chai pe Charcha, a bimonthly social event, where chai tea and snacks are served. Chai pe Charcha presents a chance for refugee families to discuss their lives in an informal setting with Sewa volunteers.These types of events have been helpful in integrating with the refugee population as well as helping to bring more meaningful programs for the refugee community.

Rahul Rao said, “As sponsors of chai-pe-charcha event in December, we participated in a gathering with several children from refugee families who are helped by Sewa. The event saw about 50 kids, most of them between 4-10 years old. The event kept the kids involved in games and activities and was well organized. Thanks to Kavita and her team for organizing the event and making chai-pe-charcha a success in community involvement. We would certainly encourage everyone to participate in community service with Sewa; it has been a rewarding experience for us.”

If you would like to make an important occasion, such as a birthday or an anniversary, meaningful through community service, please contact Sewa International.
If you want to sponsor an event like this please contact Kavita Tewary :  educationhouston@sewausa.org If you are interested in refugee tutoring programs please contact Ruba Alafifi  americorps-houston@sewausa.org