Gerda's Long Journey to Maine
Gerda is working on plans for the day’s after-school program activities with Katie, another volunteer at The Root Cellar. Their laughter and smiles fill up the room - a common experience if you are at our Lewiston location during early weekday afternoons.
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Gerda’s smile is contagious and sincere. It comes easily and brightens a room instantly. This past summer, she joined our team of volunteers as a leader in our Super Summer Day Camp, serving more than 90 neighborhood children for 8 weeks of fun, learning, nature exploration and so much more. Her service to new neighbors is incredibly valuable, but it is her contagious humility and joy that especially stand out.
At only 20-years old, that joy is already deep and mature. It’s the kind of joy that can only be produced through hardship and difficulty. Her family includes her parents, younger sister, two younger brothers and her aunt. They now live just a few blocks from our Lewiston site, but their journey to Maine started over 7 years ago in their home country of Ghana.
A Dangerous Journey Begins
Nearly eight years ago, Gerda family was faced with significant threats in their home country of Ghana. For reasons that I cannot explain in this format, her parents had legitimate reasons to fear for their lives. When it was clear that Gerda and her siblings were unsafe as well, they made the difficult decision to leave their home country.
Gerda recalls those difficult and terrifying days: “We went through humiliation, threats, and maltreatment. There was nowhere else to go.”
In 2018, Gerda’s father, Robert moved his family to Brazil. “My parents decided to move from Ghana so that we could have a peaceful life,” explains Gerda. But peace was not found in Brazil. “We lived in four different states in Brazil but we always felt like our lives were in danger. There was a lot of violence, kidnapping, and danger.”
After seven years of moving and seeking safety, Gerda’s parents made the challenging choice to seek asylum in the United States. This journey would be treacherous and long, span 12 countries and be primarily traveled on foot.
The difficult road would be especially hard for Gerda’s brother, Robert Jr. Now 12-years -old, he was born with a rare disorder that has left him bound to a wheelchair.
This journey had many dangers and several portions directly through the jungle commonly called “the bush,” and required a trusted guide who knew the way. “We had a good guide,” Gerda recalls. “For many other groups, there are bad guides - many women get raped. I’m thankful that our group didn’t experience that.”
It was March 12th when the made the decision to leave Robert Jr.’s wheelchair behind. They were in Peru, and about to enter “the bush.” Gerda took turns with her father carrying young Robert on their backs.
PANAMA
The most treacherous part of the journey came in Panama. Those traveling are faced with choosing between 2 extremely dangerous routes - to go through 8 straight days of difficult walking through “the bush” or take a shorter - but potentially deadly - route by water, bypassing much of the jungle. Gerda’s father, Robert had heard of many that had drowned after taking the shorter route. They chose the longer, harder and relatively safer route through the thick jungle bush.
For eight days, they walked together with their guide and a few other families, totaling 15 people. They didn’t carry many personal items, opting for necessary supplies like water jugs and food. Gerda describes those days: “We had four backpacks, with just some noodles and cookies for food. Our boots were never dry, and made soars and very painful feet. Everyone’s clothes were destroyed by just walking through the bush.”
The hardest day came when they needed to cross a river with a dangerously strong current. It was deep in many places, but the guide knew where they could walk across. The water level was still up to their shoulders. Gerda remembers Robert Jr. being carried by her father and a friend as they crossed.
When they finally made it across, they realized that one of their companions - a young mother - was missing. She had washed down river and drowned. Gerda recalls her aunt holding the child of the missing mother on the bank of the river.
During the journey, another mother suffered a miscarriage due to the stress of the journey, “She was in pain for days.”
There are many other dangers along the journey travelers face. Having heard the stories from others who made the journey, Gerda shares that she is grateful for God’s protection on her family: “We know He was with us every day.”
““I was like - they are speaking English! Thank you, God! They are speaking English!” ”
On April 29th, 47 days after leaving Brazil, Gerda heard voices speaking a familiar language. “I was like - they are speaking English! Thank you, God! They are speaking English!”
They had made it to America’s southern border of Texas.
Because she is an adult, Gerda was separated from her family after they claimed asylum. Her parents and younger siblings were processed quickly, and were sent to Maine after a few days. In recent years, many asylum-seekers from Central and West Africa are sent to Maine from Texas. Maine is known to be a safe haven for these families and our General Assistance budgets allow for housing and food support for immigrants - a unique kind of assistance among most US States.
NO ROOM IN THE INN
After finally arriving, Robert Jr. and his family found themselves amidst a housing crisis in the city of Portland, Maine. The City of Portland had begun placing new arrivals in hotels all across South Portland. At the time, there were more that 1,600 asylum-seekers spread across at least five hotels and there was - quite literally - no room in the inn. Gerda’s family was placed at a hotel in Auburn that was secluded from any services of the Lewiston-Auburn area.
Alyssa (Morgosh) McKay, The Root Cellar’s Program Manager in Lewiston, was called to meeting at the hotel by a few other organizations that we have partnered with in the past. That day she met 15 of the 19 families who had been placed at the hotel, including Robert Sr. and his family.
Most of the families were from Angola or the Democratic Republic of Congo. Using Google Translate, Alyssa invited all the families to come to The Root Cellar over the next few days. She mobilized our team in Lewiston and quickly made a plan for all of the adults to join RC Tea Time English Classes.
Public transportation was not accessible at the hotel and there was very little to do, so most families spent time inside the hotel room. Among the 19 families were 40 youth, including 27 elementary-aged kids, 12 teens and a few babies. Each family expressed to Alyssa and others that they needed to get out, to find something good to do.
Rides were organized three days per week to transport the families for English Classes at The Root Cellar, medical and other necessary appointments. Although originally planned for the adults, the English classes soon included kids and teens.
Michelle Richards, our volunteer English Program Coordinator, created a three-week “Welcome to the USA” introduction course, including cultural lessons, food, and “van tours” of the community.
“The van rides were so much fun,” says Alyssa, “showing the kids the river, the park, playing basketball and riding bikes. Coming to The Root Cellar was coming to Disneyland for these kids.”
During these weeks, Alyssa had built a strong relationship with Gerda’s family. She recalls that Robert Sr. was always asking for an opportunity to work. Asylum-seekers are not permitted to work or gain an income for at least 180 days due to federal regulations surrounding the asylum process. That didn’t matter to Robert: he volunteered any chance he was given. They attended church with Alyssa at Redemption Hill Community, and quickly built friendships in the community.
At the beginning of June, Alyssa helped secure transportation for Gerda to Maine. She had been in detention for a total of 33 days before being officially processed. She was finally reunited with her family.
All 27 elementary-aged kids joined in Super Summer Day Camp and each of the 12 teens joined The Lew Crew, The Root Cellar’s Youth Work Experience program and their parents became English students. This was a great opportunity, but it did create language-access challenges. All of these new teens and children spoke Portuguese, but not English, so translation became necessary.
As natives of Ghana, Gerda and her family speak fluent English. Since she had spent the better part of her teen years in Brazil, Gerda had also picked up Portuguese, making her an invaluable asset to the success of Super Summer in 2022.
Beyond her linguistic skills, Gerda is a natural with children. Alyssa recalls seeing her sing songs with children after church. “You could just see the gift of working with children in her - the joy of it was in her smile. I knew then she’d be a great leader in Super Summer.”
Gerda aided in translation of program materials and became one of the primary leaders in the program. “I watched her faith grow through translating and sharing the words of Jesus with our children. She taught them how to treat one another and enjoy God’s creation through nature exploration on field trips and she always served willingly. She was respectful and gracious - and never complained.”
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In a few short weeks, Gerda became a trusted liaison between the 19 families living in the hotels and The Root Cellar. This had a ripple effect across the hotel, creating opportunities for each family member to participate in The Root Cellar programing. Our team worked hard to welcome these new families, but it was Gerda who facilitated so much of the work and relationship-building. She showed our team how to serve her neighbors well and love them with a deep and sincere joy.
“We feel like God has done so much for us. He has always been by us. Whenever we prayed to Him, He answered in miraculous ways. He has been our King and protector - each and every moment.””
That deep joy is rooted in how God has revealed himself to Gerda over the course of her young, but challenging life. “We feel like God has done so much for us. He has always been by us. Whenever we prayed to Him, He answered in miraculous ways. He has been our King and protector - each and every moment.”
As Gerda works through the asylum-seeking process, she continues to volunteer at The Root Cellar. “I am taking a financial literacy class at the Root Cellar. They have provided many learning opportunities through classes for me. We live down the street from here now. It’s comfortable at home with just seven people.” Gerda is taking HiSET classes and working towards a US High School Diploma as well. She wants to get a job, pay for college and get business degree. Her dream is to work in Real Estate.
In many ways, The Root Cellar exists to welcome neighbors just like Gerda and her family, but that act of welcoming isn’t one-sided. It’s an invitation into God’s work among others. By welcoming Gerda and her family, we aren’t just serving them. As you can see, that is only a fraction of what God is doing in our communities. Gerda and our team are working together, seeking the Kingdom of God in downtown Lewiston.
By welcoming this family and the hundreds of others in Portland and Lewiston, our team and neighborhoods have been blessed by how they have contributed to the ministry of The Root Cellar. Alyssa recalls praying earlier in the summer for “laborers to join” our work. Gerda is one of many answers to that prayer.
Gerda is one of a few thousand new asylum-seekers that have come to Maine in the last year. The Root Cellar exists to seek God’s Kingdom come and His will to be done in Portland and Lewiston. When we welcome families like Gerda into our lives, the Kingdom expands - but not only because of our actions. It is also because of how God is blessing our cities through so many of these new neighbors.
Our Father is weaving together something new in our cities. We want to invite you to join us in this work, to see His Kingdom come and His will be done in our cities as it is in heaven.
neighbor by neighbor, God’s love is transforming our neighborhoods.
As we look at the opportunities ahead, your generous gift will make all the difference for neighbors like Gerda and her family.
Will you consider making your best gift to help reach our year end goal?
We are praying for 100 NEW Monthly Partners to join us for 2023.
