1. Refugee Assistance Information Network
Portland, Oregon 97225 | www.raininternational.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rebecca Sanchez, Media Outreach Coordinator
Tel. 503-327-1717
Email:RSanchez@raininternational.org
Date: 12/06/2016
REFUGEE ASSISTANCE INFORMATION NETWORK PRESENTS: A CONCERT FOR UNITY
Performers from Portland and around the world join together to support RAIN International
Refugee AssistanceInformation Network (RAIN) International is a non-profitorganization led by a diverseteam of multi-
cultural social workers,mental health cliniciansand humanitarian workers in the Portland area. The work centers on creatinga best
practiceapproach to servingthe refugee and migrantpopulations locally and globally.RAINInternational believes that a global
movement is needed to change the narrativeaboutrefugees and migrants,both on the public side,and on the humanitarian side.
Award-WinningBollywood singers,Samir and Dipalee,from India,alongwith musicians and performers from Mexico,
Guatemala, Columbia,Brazil and Portland will performas a representation of the message of global and cultural unity.Many of the
performers are refugees themselves, or have worked with refugee organizations or migrantcauses.
The concert will be held in the Intel Jones Farm Conference Center Auditorium December 30th from 6:30pm – 9:30pm. The
concert will cost$25 pre-saleor $30 at the door. Tickets may be purchased at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rain-internationals-
concert-for-unity-tickets-29617140665.Doors will open at 5:30 pm for an hour of refreshments and networking, and concert-goers
will beable to speak directly with RAIN Advisory Board members and volunteers at information tables throughout the Auditorium
lobby. Raffletickets will besold and prizes includeAmazon tablets, wine packages from local vineyards,and other items.
Information will beprovided on volunteer opportunities and other ways to get involved with RAIN. One program currently
recruitingvolunteers is the Thrive program, a peer to peer support program pairingnewly arrivingrefugee and migrantyouth with

2. Refugee Assistance Information Network
Portland, Oregon 97225 | www.raininternational.org
Portland high schoolers for an innovativecultural exchange.Thrive’s vision is to create the next generation of compassionate
leaders.
RAIN director and co-founder, Kelsey LeBrun Keswani has been workingwith refugee populations for over 15 years since
being recruited to work on the mass resettlement of the Lost Boys from Sudan in 2000 whilein graduateschool for counseling. She
has sincedirected programs for refugees, unaccompanied children,survivorsof torture and genocide, and holds a postgraduate
certificatefrom the Harvard Programin Refugee Trauma. Moved by the numbers of migrants fleeingSyria to Greece in November of
2015,Keswani enlisted Anjuli Jindal,Principal Psychiatristand co-founder of George Washington University's Human Rights Clinic
treating survivors of trauma and torture in DC, who had worked in the Zataari refugee camp in Jordan, and husband Mahesh
Keswani,LEED-certified architectwith previous involvement designingmodular refugee shelters,to travel to the island of Lesvos,
Greece to join in the volunteer effort. They were shocked to see that the volunteer-run responseeffort in Lesvos was operatingon
littletrainingand an absenceof professional supportand leadership. Oncereturningfrom Greece, Keswani took action and c reated
RAIN International to gather best practices fromexperts from around the world and make them availableto new refugee programs
and new humanitarian professionals.
“We put together an Advisory Board of some of the highest quality leaders in this field –many who residehere in Oregon—
who have worked on the ground and deeply understand the issues everyone else is talkingabout.”Kelsey Lebrun Keswani stated.
“Why do we keep rewritingthe wheel every time a new crises unfolds?”
RAIN International has an Advisory Board team of 20 professionalsworkingin mental health, humanitarian and refugee
resettlement positions in theUnited States, Europe, Africa,Asia and the Middle East. The team focuses on buildingsustainable,
responsiveprograms that involvedeep trainingfor volunteers and a respect for a common strugglefor human rights.As the
organization grows,Keswani hopes it will become a comprehensive “hub” for both resettlement efforts and for the public to fi nd
accurateinformation aboutwhy people are leavingtheir countries. “This is how we begin to change the narrative,” she says . RAIN
International’s Concertfor Unity will bethe firstbenefit event for the new organization.
To learn more about RAIN, visitfacebook.com/raininternationalorg. RAIN’s website is scheduled to launch on December
15, 2016 at www.raininternational.org,or call RAIN’s Media Outreach Coordinator,Rebecca Sanchez, at: 503-327-1717.
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