Every Sunday around 4pm, Kris Lahti alerts a group of international students on WhatsApp and Facebook while her husband David Lahti prepares a meal to be served to international students- “Sunday Dinner 6:30 524 Denslowe Curried Chicken soup with coconut and spinach Jalapeño popper grilled cheese Rice,” the text reads.
David prepares the dinner in their house and brings it to the community church for everyone to eat together. The menu changes weekly and they try to incorporate something from each country where the international students in Reno come from. 69-year-old David Lahti says, “ the students love it. ‘This is actually like how my mom makes it,’ some say, when I get the recipe right.”
David and his wife Kris Lahti work with a group called International Students Incorporated which operates across the nation and in different parts of the world at various colleges and universities. The Lahtis not only help arrange a Sunday dinner for international students, they also offer airport pick ups and drop offs for incoming and traveling students, grocery and retail shopping for students who do not have vehicles and also help students learn to drive and get their licenses.
David Lahti led a short prayer before a recent meal.
A True Blessing for International Students
29-year-old Merbin John from India is pursuing his PhD in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno.
“I got their contact from one of my friends who is pursuing [their] PhD in Physics,” he said of the Lahtis. “When I booked my ticket I informed Kris and David about my travel itinerary and was a little worried because the layover at San Francisco to Reno was only one hour so I was a little frightened. Since it was my first international travel I thought I wouldn't be able to make it from SFO. I informed them about this and they mentioned that they can even come to San Francisco and they can arrange an alternate travel plan. However, I somehow managed to get the flight from SFO to Reno and I met Kris at the Reno airport for the first time. They provided all the necessary furniture, coats, bed, tables, chairs. Their incessant help is always appreciable. They are such true blessings for international students.”
“I began offering rooms for rent in a house,” Kris says of how she started interacting with international students. “I rented my house out and then rented a place that was close to the university. And I had five or six girls who would live with me, we would live together and that started in 2008.” They still host five international students, all young women, in their house which is close to the university.
During the pandemic the Lahtis kept offering airport pickups though they stopped the Sunday dinner gatherings for a while.
Subin Antony Jose, another Indian student who arrived in Reno during the pandemic for his PhD, says their initial help went a long way.
“They were more than happy to pick me up from the airport and help me in settling down,” he said. “They have interacted with a lot of international students and they know our worries and concerns very well. Explaining the cultural differences, helping me with groceries, giving suggestions on what is better and not, etc…All these things, they did as a part of service and without any expectations.”
David has been doing this work as a volunteer for 11 years now, and sees his role guided by religion. Kris has been doing this for 13 years and gets paid.
A Tight Network and Leftovers
32-year-old graduate student Muhammad Ali Shahbaz from Pakistan who frequently visits Sunday dinners describes this experience as one that helped him adjust gradually in Reno.
“Being a foreigner it was not an easy task to engage with [a] new culture, language and overall social experience,” he said. “First few weeks in the US were really terrible for me as I could not pick up accents and know how to engage with people. After an invitation from Kris and David to their weekly activities, Sunday dinners and coffee talks, I am now more confident to engage with other people and have a social community where I can release my weekly stress and feel at home…every state should follow their model.”
Doing this for over a decade now, the Lahtis have built a tight network of international students where they meet each other, go on trips and share their experiences while studying or working in Reno.
“We feel like mom and dad, although nowadays we're starting to be called grandma and grandpa, so I guess we're getting older,” David said. “And so there is that kind of association as well, just like you would have with your grandparents or your parents. They may not share everything directly with us, but we know they seem to share with each other a little bit, just getting somebody that's their peer, the same age, they may share, sharing with mom and dad or grandpa, grandma, there's still that, that love, that's kind of there. And yes, it's sad to see them go. But through social media, we can keep [in] touch with them, which is still good.”
The Lahtis also follow up and check in on their students whose families might be facing a difficult situation back home, such as an earthquake or war or any other calamities, political or natural. They have also helped to transfer money to student families in remote areas during peak pandemic times. No matter what the world situation is, or conflicts elsewhere, the Lahtis say they have never seen any student conflicts at their dinner table.
The homemade dinner often ends with sweet treats and board games. At a gathering’s conclusion, the Lahtis pack leftover dinner items in small boxes for the students to take home.