YMCA steps in to bring a little bit of home to Afghan refugees celebrating Eid ul-Fitr
The YMCA and a Muslim civil rights group recently partnered to host a holiday gathering for Afghan refugees resettling in the Oklahoma City metro area.
The YMCA Rockwell branch hosted an Eid Festival for Afghan refugees in partnership with the Council on American-Islamic Relations-Oklahoma chapter. Afghan families were invited to the YMCA Rockwell, 8300 Glade Ave., to celebrate Eid ul-Fitr, the festivities and communal prayers that mark the end of the Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting. Eid ul-Fitr, or Feast of the Fast-breaking, began around April 21 in the United States.
One of the Afghans enjoying the celebration was Maryam, 20, who asked that her last name not be published. She said she and her family came to Oklahoma in January 2022 and she currently works for a local agency as a translator for Afghan women.
Maryam said she was happy to see so many Afghan families participating in the festival because Eid ul-Fitr is an important time in Afghanistan and people often enjoy a break from work to mark the special occasion. She said she lived in Kabul and attended a private school where she learned to speak English. Many of the individuals resettling in Oklahoma are currently trying to learn English but haven't mastered it just yet, she said, so it was great for them to be around other Afghans for conversation and fun.
"I am so happy for them because I want to help them and I love them," she said of the families. "This is a good connection for them because they are so far from home."
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'It's glorious and joyous'
Taylor York, Rockwell Plaza YMCA district executive director, said the Y branch hosted the recent festival because the YMCA of Greater Oklahoma City's focus is to "be a beacon of hope for all our community."
"The most important part of our mission is that we are an organization FOR ALL," he said in an email. "We are so grateful for the partnership and the opportunity to love, serve and care for an entire community that we had not had the opportunity to connect with before. It is an incredibly special partnership, and we look forward to finding other ways to serve."
Adam Soltani, executive director of CAIR-OK, said his organization held an Eid event for the refugees last year but there were space limitations because it was held at a local hotel where some of the Afghan families were still being housed. He said his agency was trying to determine what might be doable this year when YMCA leaders reached out and offered to host the festival.
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"We weren't exactly sure what to do, then in comes the YMCA that actually proposed to us that they would like to host it and partner with us," Soltani said. "It just was a perfect time where they came in and they said, 'We would love to partner with you and host this and use the model we use for other holiday celebrations for the Christian community, such as Christmas and so on, to replicate those in the culturally and religiously appropriate way.'"
Volunteers with the YMCA served food and helped with games, arts and crafts and other activities alongside community volunteers and others who have been helping Afghan families. Many of the community volunteers and advocates for the Afghans said they were pleased to see the men, women and children having fun because they have had to make many adjustments after fleeing Afghanistan amid the August 2021 withdrawal of U.S. troops and the Taliban takeover of the country.
"It's glorious and joyous," Jennifer Hund, refugee services coordinator for CAIR-OK, said of the festival.
Dr. Shirin Mohammad, another community volunteer, said she was grateful for the organizations that came together to host the recent event.
"Looking at them, you might not know it but they have gone through some traumatic experiences," she said of the Afghans.
The local internist said she migrated to the United States 30 years ago from her native Pakistan and eventually became an American citizen.
"When organizations like the YMCA have the principles of welcoming diversity, it's important, especially in times when we are so divided and we fear each other," she said.
"Once we know each other, we realize we all want peace, we all want acceptance, and, at the end of the day, we all belong to the race of humanity."
Soltani shared similar sentiments.
"It's just a wonderful thing to see the Afghan community happy, smiling, comfortable in their own cultural element, but also comfortable in what is traditionally known as the Young Men's Christian Association," he said.
"I think that speaks volumes to what Oklahoma is really all about, that we work beyond the lines of faith and culture and we find a way to connect with people, even when we don't speak the same language, even when we don't have the same customs. There's nothing, in my opinion, that says the Oklahoma Standard more than what you see here today."
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: YMCA opens doors to OKC Afghan refugees for Eid ul-Fitr
