BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – On Wednesday, April 6, the Bellows Falls Opera House will present the film “Babylon: Journeys of Refugees,” a film by Sandglass Theater of Putney. Show time is 7 p.m. and admission is free.
Did you know that 100 Afghan refugees have recently arrived in Southern Vermont, and that for several years a local organization, the Community Asylum Seekers Project, has been helping other people fleeing dangerous conditions in their homelands to start new lives? The Compass School in Westminster is sponsoring this free event as a way to help us all be aware of the challenges faced by refugees as well as opportunities for us to help.
The film will be followed by a panel discussion with two ensemble members from Sandglass Theater involved in the film’s production as well as representatives from CASP and Rockingham Area Refugee Resettlement, another local volunteer group helping people to find their way in Windham County. Steve Crofter, who founded CASP in 2016 and is now leading RARR, a grassroots ad hoc group of citizens in the Rockingham area, says, “Reaching out to welcome and support asylum seekers and refugees not only helps them, but the act of befriending our new neighbors transforms us as well. As individuals and as a community, we grow in our understanding of the world and what it means to be human.”