“Let the first act of every morning be to make the following resolve for the day:
– I shall not fear anyone on Earth.
– I shall fear only God.
– I shall not bear ill will toward anyone.
– I shall not submit to injustice from anyone.
– I shall conquer untruth by truth. And in resisting untruth, I shall put up with all suffering.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
Yesterday, two men from the Congo, their names are Mawulidi and Isaiah, came to my farm. i am getting to know Mawulidi, and I admire him greatly, I hope one day soon to be able to call him my friend. With him was a young man from Mawulidi’s village in the Congo, I do not know him well, his name is Isaiah, but I see that Mawulidi has taken Isaiah under his wing, and is beginning to teach him the carving skill that his grandfather taught him.
Mawulidi is a wood carver by trade, now working as a bread maker at a bakery in Albany, N.Y. For the past few weeks, another of people I have never met have been working with me to restore to Mawulidi the tools he needs. He needed about $500, he didn’t want more or ask for more.
I am not sure I have known many men or women like Mawulidi. He is shy, gracious and unfailingly courteous. He never speaks unless spoken to. His eyes are always scanning the wood around him, from the firewood in my shed to every tree he passes. He smiles and laughs in a joyous way when he sees the wood he wants and needs, I like to see him rub his fingers and hangs over the wood to get a feel for it.
It is a great gift to see someone who has found his bliss and knows it. I think nothing will keep Mawulidi from carving his wood, and I will work hard to sell it for him.
Mawulidi is a smart and determined man, he survived 20 years in a brutal and dangerous refugee camp, and made it to America.
Many people, some in our government, believe that this is the kind of person who should never again be permitted to live in America. He is not wealthy, he speaks little English, he has no skills that most Americans consider valuable. He is a wood-carver, and I don’t know many people as or more skilled than this gentle and creative man.
Over the next few years, I will be eager to follow Mawulidi’s story and see whether or not he becomes a United States citizen, whether we find justice or injustice. I think Isaiah is fortunate to have Mawulidi as a mentor, and I am fortunate to know him as a potential friend.
I am eager to see first carving as he hastens back to his life.
We all have our ideas on justice and injustice, especially lately, we all struggle to find common ground. I can’t tell anyone else what to do or think, only what i do or think. And if there is justice in the world in my mind, Mawulidi and others like him will continue to struggle to come to America, and America will continue to open its doors to him.
It is really a miracle to see someone like this man, who has spent half of his life in a kind of cultural prison hell work so hard and graciously to put his life back together again. If you want to help, you can do so my donating to my refugee fund: Jon Katz, P.O. Box 205, Cambridge, N.Y., 12816. We are doing good, I promise you that.