The Joy We Received

By Rozellah Ajwang
Change a Heart

I find great joy in helping others. Being there for someone and offering your support to others wholeheartedly I find to be such a blessing. This is pretty much what I do on a daily basis. Knowing myself, I always try to go out of my way to assist those in need of my help. It brings me joy, peace and gives me a life of fulfillment and purpose! Those I serve at the Jewish Family & Community Service organization in Pittsburgh, PA are refugees. I remember months ago when I started working with them, I felt like I wasn’t doing much based on the expectations I had created in my mind. I felt like I had fallen short for them. Why? Because I was so caught up in trying to find the ‘big’ moments that I failed to see the ‘little’ achievements I had accomplished in service to them.

I have been leading a Congolese Women Support Group session held via Zoom twice a week, helping these women with English language communication, social adjustment and integration. This is one of the biggest highlights of my service year. I have witnessed great progress from these women through their continuous engagement and participation in the group. In as much as I have been teaching them, I have also learned a lot from them, and their appreciative remarks like ‘Thank you’ or ‘God bless you!’ This has blessed my soul and made a huge impact in my life — these ‘little’ things matter a lot. We often fail to acknowledge or even appreciate the refugee, but they are very significant. They give you joy, hope, strength and the spirit to be better at who we are.