Photo By Sgt. Elliot Alagueuzian | Afghan children play soccer at a newly opened recreational center at Fort McCoy,...... read more read more
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FORT McCoy, Wis. - The United States Council of Catholic Bishops helped organize several centers for recreational purposes at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin. These centers are designed to help Afghan evacuees relax and have fun while they wait for permanent relocation in the United States through Operation Allies Welcome.
One of the men charged with coordinating these recreation centers is Andrew Jones.
“These facilities come in pairs of two,” he said. “There will always be a loud one and a quiet one. The loud one is like this with bouncing balls, craziness and a lot of energy. And a chance for people to get their energy out. The quiet one will have board games, puzzles, yoga and card games”
Jones also points out the importance of giving Afghan personnel something to occupy their time indoors, especially with winter coming.
“The (overall) mission is to get people off base and into more permanent homes,” he said. “The purpose of (the recreation centers) now that the weather is getting cold is to give them something to do.”
These facilities will also give Afghan personnel a chance to learn something about American activities such as basketball, foosball, ping pong and corn hole.
Various times for activities are given to different Afghan demographics on post. For example, a time is set for women only and a separate time for men only. Then there will be a time where both men and women can use the facilities.
One of the Afghan evacuees described the amount of joy these centers bring for him personally.
“When I came here I felt like I was homeless, now there’s a place where I can play and it helps me a lot mentally, because I’m not constantly stressing out about my family,” he said.
An Afghan teacher explained how it feels to have activities that women can participate in.
“We had things like this in Afghanistan but it was very limited for women,” she said. “It’s very helpful for women to learn what activities are open to them such as yoga. And they can look for these same activities when they leave here.”
If anyone is interested in helping the evacuees, Andrew said that any help would be deeply appreciated.
“Cash donations through any of the agencies helping Team Rubicon, USCCB and Save Our Allies (will help),” Andrew said. “We are really trying to provide as much help as possible.”
| Date Taken: | 11.09.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 11.10.2021 08:41 |
| Story ID: | 409058 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 73 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Recreation Brings Afghan Evacuees A Taste of American Fun, by SGT Elliot Alagueuzian, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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