DEVELOPMENT


THE NATIONS ARE HERE


Alumna’s Raft Amad Initiative Serves Sacramento Refugees BY: ALUMNA EMILY CORTESE, INTERCULTURAL STUDIES (‘14)


I


n a van full of students and luggage, we drove down the bumpy road to a home. After 48 hours of traveling, I was dropped off at my new residence for the next four months in Mukono, Uganda. I signed up to live in someone else’s home in a country where I totally stuck out. I stepped out of the van and there she came through her doors: Mama Harriett,


a large Ugandan woman with the biggest smile. “Aw Emily! My name is Harriett, but you may call me Mama Harriett,” she said and proceeded to give me a huge embrace. Immediately, I knew I was so welcomed. With my B.A. in Intercultural Studies and a great experience


through BestSemester study abroad programs, I always thought I was going to graduate WJU and end up serving as a traditional missionary in another country. Instead, I followed God’s leading back to my hometown of Sacramento. I heard God tell me, “The nations are here.” My heart was won over when He proceeded to show me what that meant as I began my work with refugees in an area I knew so well. In Sacramento, a large percentage of refugees received are


from Afghanistan. I found myself in the homes of these families and remembered what it felt like to be the foreigner. They spoke a


20 JESSUP MAGAZINE


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