World Refugee Month: It’s personal for one Richmond man
RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT) - Manyang Reath Kher’s earliest memories are of war, death and a struggle to survive. At age 3, Kher became one of the Lost Boys, the name given to the 20,000 children who were displaced and orphaned by the civil war in Sudan.
He spent nearly 15 years of his childhood in an Ethiopian refugee camp before coming to the Virginia Home for Boys and Girls in Henrico. He graduated from J.R. Tucker High School, but he never forgot about the struggling people in the camps he left behind.
Others helped him make a life for himself — and now he’s paying it forward.
While studying at the University of Richmond, Kher started a charity for refugees like himself. He is the founder and executive director of the Humanity Helping Sudan Project, a foundation that runs on-the-ground programs at refugee camps in southern Sudan.
They provide fishing and agricultural aid, community gardens and education programs that have reached more than 40,000 displaced people. Kher gives nets to kids so they can learn how to fish. He even started a school to teach farming and plumbing.
The initiative caught the attention of VH1′s “Do Something” charity contest in 2012. He was a finalist for the $100,000 grand prize and later appeared in a music video for Beyonce Knowles.
Bebe Tran with Commonwealth Catholic Charities helped bring Kher to the U.S., and knew he would make a perfect candidate for the contest.
People can help Kher’s cause just by drinking a cup of coffee. Each bag of 734 Coffee tells a story of the refugee crisis, and the proceeds from all sales fund need-based scholarships for refugees. Kher started 734 Coffee to help fund the Humanity Helping Sudan Project programming. “734″ symbolizes a place of refuge — 7 N and 34 E are the geographical coordinates of Gambela, Ethiopia, where more than 200,000 live after fleeing South Sudan.
Each year on June 20, the United Nations, United Nations Refugee Agency and countless civic groups around the world recognize World Refugee Day. The goal is to draw the public’s attention to the millions of refugees and internally displaced people who have been forced to flee their homes due to war, conflict and persecution.
This World Refugee Month, 734 Coffee is working to remove the stigma associated with the word “refugee.”
In Kher’s eyes, the United States is a cultural mosaic built and shaped by immigrants and refugees alike. From culinary dishes to festive traditions, 734 Coffee invites Richmond to join them in highlighting the rich diversity refugees and immigrants bring to the city.
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