By Barb Arland-Fye
The Catholic Messenger
Their journeys began from different starting points but the three Iowa women featured in this story share a common passion for accompanying refugees striving to rebuild their lives in Iowa. We share their stories to raise awareness about National Migration Week, Sept. 23-29, which culminates with the World Day of Migrants and Refugees (WDMR) on Sept. 29. Some 43.4 million refugees are among 120 million people forcibly displaced as of May 2024, USA for the UN Refugee Agency reports.
While visiting a parish in his diocese recently, Bishop Gabriel Edoe Kumordji, SVD of Ghana, Africa was dismayed to find the church building without a roof. A strong wind blew it off in the coastal community of West Africa. Just a year ago, he advised the parish to plant trees to serve as a windbreak to protect the building. Trees had not been planted.