GaryOsberg.com

Culture shock occurs when folks from one religion and background encounter folks from another religion and background.  I experienced “culture shock” when I moved to Upsala in 1956.  I was pulled out of St. Louis Park Junior High School and my mother and six of us children moved into an apartment above a grocery store in Upsala Minnesota.  Ramlo Grocery belonged to my mother’s mother Laura and her second husband Bert Ramlo.  I was 13 years old and because I had not one, but two paper routes in St. Louis Park, I owned a brand-new Schwinn bicycle. It was bright red with white trim. It had streamers coming out of the handlebars, a tank with a horn, mud flaps and white sidewall tires.  The first day I rode it up to Upsala High and when I got out of school, I discovered that someone had let the air out of the tires. 

That evening, I stripped the bike of all the fancy stuff and the next day there were no problems.  Danny Lillestrand did beat me in a game of marbles and took my favorite aggie. 

Here in central Minnesota, there has been another more serious culture shock.   There have been many refugees from Somalia and other regions of Africa that have relocated to the St Cloud area to get away from terrorism and starvation.  In the interest of building trust through collective impact , Abdikadir Bashir started the Center for African Immigrants and Refugees Organization, branded as CAIRO Minnesota.  

A year ago, CAIRO asked me to be the MC at their first Gala Fundraiser.  I was honored to be there, and it was a marvelous evening. 

CAIRO is inviting everyone to their second annual fundraiser gala, “Seeds of Synergy”.  Once again, the event will be held at The Park Event Center in Waite Park.  The date is Friday October 10^th from 5:30pm to 8pm.  Tickets are available at www.cairomn.org.  I hope to see you there.

“Three things in human life are important. The first is to be kind. The second is to be kind. The third is to be kind.”  Henry James