Hoover, Alabama to Hoover High: Generosity of Strangers
We met Abdul Fattah Tameem, Ghazweh Aljabooli and their five children last summer when the first family of Syrian refugees to find its way to Iowa was part of a group from all over the world taking a crash course in assimilation at the DMPS Summer Refugee Jumpstart at Meredith Middle School.
Then in November Time Magazine ran an extensive feature on the family that chronicled a five-year odyssey of escape from their war-ravaged homeland and the winding route through Jordanian refugee camps and the red tape of the American vetting process to resettlement in Des Moines.
Phillipp Cun, Katie Bickel, Ha Ho are officers in the Interact Club, which is leading efforts to support refugee students at Hoover.
The compelling story touched a lot of hearts, including those of the Baileys in Alabama. And one detail in particular caught the eye of Stuart Bailey. The eldest of Abdul’s and Ghazweh’s children, son Nazeer, is 15 and attends Hoover High School. The Baileys live in Hoover, Alabama.
“We are happy that you and your children are now safe in the U.S.,” read the note that Mr. Bailey was moved to write. “I am told Iowa is a great place to raise children.”
And then one more thing before the note was sealed and sent. “This is a small token from our family to yours.”
Enclosed was a check for $200. The memo corner read “Merry Christmas.”
The Interact Club at Hoover delivered the check and some other gifts to the Tameem family over the holidays. They were overjoyed and served coffee and cookies to their guests, as is customary in Syria.
So far they’re off to a happier New Year.
Photos of the delivery were sent to Mr. Bailey like a receipt for his generosity. He has since indicated his intention to send a monthly donation to the Interact Club to help with other refugee families. At Hoover, 92 refugee students enrolled during the first semester of this school year, an average of one per day.
The Interact Club is a junior subsidiary of the Rotary Club, a nationwide network of community service chapters. At Hoover it meets after school on Mondays and the surprise gift from the Baileys in Alabama capped off a local holiday fundraising drive on behalf of Hoover’s burgeoning refugee community.
Between Interact and the student council, eight families were assisted. Interact members developed a needs survey of refugee families and then canvassed the Hoover community for donations to fill those needs. The club also provides assistance to incoming refugee students in the form of Hoover 101, a primer in the basic ways and means of life in an American high school.
Roosevelt is the other district high school with an established chapter of Interact and the two groups are collaborating on plans for a joint campaign in support of the district’s refugees. Vinh Nguyen, who oversees community outreach and support for refugee students and families – one of the school district’s fastest growing populations – estimates as many as 1,800 DMPS students come to the district as refugees.
