(Page County) – Author Patricia Holt travels to Page County to talk about her latest book on triumph and community.
Holt will stop by the Shenandoah Public Library and Clarinda Lied Public Library later this week. While at KMAland, Holt will talk about her book Empower a Refugee: Peace of Thread and the Backyard Humanity Movement. Speaking on KMA’s “Morning Show,” Holt says she came up with the idea for her story from her own life experiences.
“I lived in the country of Jordan, and then there was unemployment for the first time in my life,” Holt said. “It’s interesting to find out who you are when there’s no title and you’re on your own. When I started writing about refugees, I realized it was a bit the same thing.”
While living in Jordan, Holt came into contact with Leila Wahbeh who showed him how the power of connection uplifts refugees. Holt spent almost every day learning and working with Wahbeh and the people she helped. After returning to Georgia, Holt says she sought out those same connections.
“When I moved to Atlanta after my husband died, I missed that warmth and generosity and kindness of the people I met in Jordan,” Holt said. “I decided to find someone who was doing projects that would benefit refugees like Leila had.”
This journey led Holt to Denise Smith, founder and CEO of Peace of Thread. Peace of Thread is a non-profit organization that works with refugee women, teaching them how to sew handbags and providing a way for them to support their families and find community. Holt says that even in a completely different part of the world, the lessons from Jordan and Atlanta were nearly identical.
Patricia Holt will be in Shenandoah on May 12 at 2:00 p.m. and will speak to Clarinda later the same day at 6:00 p.m. You can find more information about Holt, his upcoming seminars or his other books on his website. patriciamartinholt.com. You can listen to the full interview with Patricia Holt here:
