PORTLAND, Ore. — On a recent February afternoon, squeals of delight echoed throughout a gathering room at a Southeast Portland church. More than a dozen pregnant women stood poised over a long table before someone yelled, "Goooo!" Suddenly the race was on. Who among them would be the first to diaper, dress and display their baby dolls, proving their parental potential?
The baby shower had officially begun.
Some say if you've been to one baby shower, you've been to them all. The rite of passage is rooted in American tradition — and for those celebrated on this day, that's the true beauty of it.
"Some of them [moms] are not even able to have their own baby shower or it doesn't make sense, 'What is a baby shower?'" said Nelly Achien Dande, a volunteer with the African Families Holistic Health Organization (AFHHO). "But here, this is America. It's a baby shower — we have to appreciate them."
Every couple of months, AFHHO throws a baby shower for expectant moms in their program, most of them African immigrants. The twenty mothers to be at this baby shower are all new to America. Many are refugees and speak little to no English. They left homes and families in various countries including Kenya, Ethiopia, Angola and Somalia. This is their home, now.
"It's awesome," said Dande, who volunteers as a doula with AFHHO; someone trained to give physical and emotional support to expectant mothers before, during and after birth. "Just being with these moms and knowing they're getting a second chance in life, in a new country — I've held a lot of babies in 10 years!"
In 2014, Therese Nakito Lugano launched AFHHO. She and her family fled to the U.S. from The Republic of Congo in 2000 amid civil war. She noticed the need among pregnant immigrants right away.
"The nurse can be talking to them in English and there is no connection," said Lugano. "When they are giving birth in Africa, they have aunties, they have neighbors to help them around, to talk to them about how to take care of themselves. And [with AFHHO], we make it happen."
Isabel Da Silva is expecting her second child and is due in March. She, her husband and their 3-year-old son were at the baby shower.
"I feel like I'm a queen!" said Da Silva in her native Portuguese, the language spoken by many in Angola.
Da Silva and her family moved to Oregon from Angola last year to escape political strife. They are currently seeking asylum in the U.S.
"I have to say thank you so much, for this opportunity that America give us," said Isabel's husband, Ernesto Da Silva.
Without extended family nearby, Isabel said support from AFHHO has meant the world to her. She said through AFHHO, she has learned many things she didn't know during her first pregnancy, like prenatal nutrition.
"If I didn't know about the program — I wouldn't know what to eat as a pregnant woman," she said.
At the baby shower, cake is the food on everyone's mind. And stacked among the gifts? Promises of hope. A nine-month journey is about to end, with a special announcement.
"I'll say it in Swahili," said Dande. "Mama, I have delivered in America!"
This story is part of our series, Pacific Storyland. From the ordinary to the extraordinary, we'll bring you the most heartwarming and inspiring stories from where you live. Know someone you'd like to see featured? Let us know! Email us at pacificstoryland@kgw.com or text your story ideas to 503-226-5088.