The Power of Presence
There is a real power here in Indy for you to connect deeply with your neighbors and in doing so, to impact the city, nation, and world. Indy is alive with diverse communities. Burma, Rwanda, Mexico. Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Ethiopia, Guatemala. Russia, Iran, El Salvador, India. Syria. China, Eritrea, Nigeria…
Indianapolis is a global crossroads of human stories.
My story begins across the world in the middle of the Southeast Asia jungle. As you do in a quarter-life crisis, I bought a one-way ticket to Thailand in search of a purpose. I thought I might find some answers there. What I found was a home and a people that loved me first.
Radical hospitality; that is an understatement for the kind of treatment I was given as a guest of the Karen people of Burma. I spent several weeks teaching high school students in one of nine Thai refugee camps along the Burma border. I lived above the high school and enjoyed hours of guitar with fellow teachers. I climbed waterfalls and lush jungle mountains with students. And I ate a lot of lahpet thoke (Burmese tea leaf salad).
In the midst of rainy season, I was showered literally and figuratively with warmth and hospitality. Some of my friends entrusted me with their stories of the unimaginable. My dreams became bound up in theirs.
And so, I returned to my first home, Indiana, with a fierce determination to help my students and their families however I could. I never imagined just how interwoven my two homes were. Did you know that Indiana has one of the biggest communities of people from Burma outside of Burma itself? In the last two years I have befriended countless amazing people from the Burma community here. Together we are able to learn from one another, build bridges through art and cultural events, and – where my heart beats loudest – develop ways to impact the lives of the people we care about back in Burma.
Dreams run big in Indianapolis and there are incredible leaders of all cultural backgrounds committing their lives to the betterment of our city and the world. I am humbled to have been invited in to hear many of their sacred stories. Their deep passion and ambitions keep me rooted in Indy because I see the real possibilities of what we can do together.
However, I have found that the small and seemingly insignificant, but incredibly intimate moments are the ones that have altered my life and made Indianapolis home. Evenings spent around the dinner table feasting on conversation and traditional dishes filled more than just my stomach. On several occasions, I have been (rather mischievously) called out into the middle of a dance circle and encouraged by the Hoza Dance Troupe youth to be fearless in my attempt to learn their traditional Rwandan dances. Dewy mornings in the community garden learning how to grow long beans and HOT chili peppers encouraged me to reimagine my Hoosier girl agricultural roots. Did you know that you can eat just about every part of the pumpkin and potato plants?
The invitation is always the same, “won’t you come visit?” Won’t you come be present.
Showing up and being present with each other means everything. I believe it is the place from which we must always begin.
I think one of the biggest ways we can grow intercultural collaboration and thus scale our impact is to become professional “friendship-makers.” I get to do that everyday with my organization, Patchwork Indy. In this city, I have found people with whom to build an organization that engages the rich fabric of humanity present. And I get to continue to invite more people, like you, in so that we can do the good work together.
Meet Claire Holba
Claire Holba is the co-founder and Executive Director of Patchwork Indy, an Indianapolis based non-profit organization that seeks to connect diverse individuals to outlets of expression, resources, influencers, and co-creators by weaving a social fabric of interdependence, and by using the power of commitment and radical hospitality to transform the neighborhood, city, nation, and world. She is on the board of several intercultural organizations including the Congo American Bridge, Crane Center for Mass Atrocity Prevention, Hope for Tomorrow, and New Foundation Intercultural Communities. Join her and Patchwork on Instagram: @patchworkindy.
