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Iraqi Families Meet Local Vets

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kcur/local-kcur-834162.mp3

Kansas City, MO – Imagine having to leave your home, job, friends and family to escape the collapse of your community because of war? That's the situation for an estimated 4.7 million Iraqis, many of whom have left for Syria and Jordan. In 2007, the U.S. government began a resettlement program to relocate Iraqi refugees to this country. Approximately, 15,000 Iraqi refugees have come to the United States. Around 90 Iraqi families have been resettled in the Kansas City area. Members of the Iraqi community estimate around 700 Iraqis live here now.

Recently, the American Friends Service Committee of Kansas City hosted an event called Breaking Bread Together: A Dinner with KC Area Iraqi Refugees and Iraq War Veterans at the Community Christian Church. The event helped to raise funds for the Iraqi resettlement cause. KCUR's Susan B. Wilson was on the scene at this sold-out event, soaking up the music, dance and conversation.

This story was produced for KC Currents. To listen on your own schedule, subscribe to the KC Currents Podcast.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Susan admits that her “first love” was radio, being an avid listener since childhood. However, she spent much of her career in mental health, healthcare administration, and sports psychology (Susan holds a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Bloch School of Business at UMKC.) In the meantime, Wilson satisfied her journalistic cravings by doing public speaking, providing “expert” interviews for local television, and being a guest commentator/contributor to KPRS’s morning drive time show and the teen talk show “Generation Rap.”
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