Extended Essay 1 Draft

Extended Essay 1 Draft (…still coming up with a cool title)

            By the end of 2011, “over 43.3 million people had been forcibly displaced due to conflict and persecution.” (UNHCR 2012) Approximately 10.4 million of these people have been officially entitled as “refugees”—that’s 24%. When examining the official definition of a refugee and what it takes to be granted that title, it will become clear why these numbers are astonishing. What’s more astonishing is the fact that each one of these 43.3 million people have a story; a story of suffering, of pain, and that ultimately expresses the strength of the human spirit.  There are over 10.4 million refugee stories in the world right now, and each one of them deserves to be shared. That poses an important question: how? How do we, as fellow humans, go about making sure these refugee stories are told in an uplifting way? To answer this question, there are three aspects of refugee stories we must look at. First, we must consider what defines a refugee and how that definition fits into his or her story. Next, the role of the refugee within his own story will be considered; specifically through the stories of Valentino Deng in What is the What, Mawi Asgedom in Of Beetles and Angels, and The Lost Boys of Sudan portrayed in the documentary God Grew Tired of Us. Finally, the role of the listener and our part within a refugee’s story will be contemplated.

            The first mark of a refugee story we must consider is what makes a refugee a refugee. There are multiple ways to approach defining a refugee, one can look at “official definitions,” such as those provided by the UNHCR or the government, one can look to outside academic perspectives, or one can go to a refugee themselves and look at what defines them to gain a proper understanding of what a refugee really is. The UNHCR (the definition of a refugee most widely accepted) defines refugees as, “people who are outside their country of nationality or habitual residence, and have a well-founded fear of persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.” (UNHCR. 2012. p. 8) The key to this definition is that a refugee must leave his or her home country because of some degree of persecution in order to seek refuge.

In addition to looking at official definitions of what a refugee is, it is equally valuable to consider what a refugee is not in order to gain understanding of who he or she is. Katrina Powell discussed the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina and its effect on those whose homes had been blighted in her article “Rhetorics of Displacement: Constructing Identities in Forced Relocations.” She approaches the definition of a refugee by contemplating the general American reaction to the Katrina disaster, “it’s likely that many Americans would define refugees’ as people of color who are poor and need assistance.” (2012. p. 303) It is imperative to understand that this is not what a refugee is. This ignorant assumption forces a specific identity on disaster victims who are not at all refugees. Hurricane Katrina victims were not fleeing their country of residence (they were simply moving around internally) and they were not fleeing persecution (they were fleeing uncontrollable environmental circumstances). There is a great deal of value in recognizing that our culture, at least on the majority, has a poor understanding of what a refugee truly is, and this, in part, is inhibiting our nation’s ability to assist refugees to our full potential. America has the capacity to help thousands of refugees gain a new life of hope and opportunity each year, but that will not be attained if much of this country does not even know the truth surrounding who refugees are, but instead gain their understanding from the skewed and incorrect coverage of refugees in the media.

One of the most important aspects of a refugee’s story is that it is entirely unique and entirely his or her own. Hearing the story of refugee’s through his or her own perspective is the most effective way of sharing their stories, and this method of telling their stories give invaluable insight to their identity—or the identity of a refugee. Refugees define themselves when they share their stories. The identity of a refugee is a hybrid; as Powell discussed, “as displaced bodies move, the identities they inhabit also move.” (2012. p. 300). This concept of “hybrid identities” perfectly encompasses a refugee’s story, because they remained largely defined by where they came from, their original culture and experiences, but they are in the process of developing a new identity through this new culture and unaccustomed way of life. I need examples / connections to put here…

In God Grew Tired of Us, Of Beetles and Angels, and What is the What, the the protagonist is left to lead the audience through a story all their own, on their own, and this is precisely what makes these stories so powerful. No third party can share what refugees have gone through: how their identities have been affected, how hard they have had to work, or how they have kept their spirits alive through it all, quite like they can themselves. The most effective way to tell a refugee story is undoubtedly to allow them to tell it on their own, using whatever means or methods he or she see fit. In What is the What Deng tells of his long and tiresome wait to hear if he would gain a spot to come to America and leave Kakuma for good. In order to be considered for one of the spots, the refugees had to write out their story, beginning to end, for the first time. Deng tells of the Lost Boys exaggerating their stories in order to increase their likelihood of getting to America. This should be a controversial issue—the fact that refugees often exaggerate their stories to the point of potential falsehood; however, considering it is their story, they have the right to tell it however they choose. Who can tell a refugee that his story is untrue? They were the only ones there and they are the only ones who have the slightest idea about what actually happened. This is the value in having a refugee tell his or her own story.

Many additional values result from a first person account of a refugee’s story. One is that it can help other refugees remember and enable them to tell their own story. A problematic feature of many refugees’ stories is that, due to the trauma experienced during their time of flight, they often are literally unable to recall much of the detail from their exodus. As Mawi explained in Of Beetles and Angels, in order to learn what happened to him and his family when they fled Ethiopia, he and his siblings would often eavesdrop on the adults sharing the stories from that time over coffee. Imagine not being able to even remember the most defining and traumatic event in your life. By listening to the stories of other refugees, these individuals may begin to reshape their own story as events begin to come back to them. Allowing refugees to share their stories may cause a chain effect, and not only work to emotionally heal the original storyteller, but eventually help more refugees experience that same sense of acceptance and healing.

A final aspect of a refugee’s story to be considered is the role we play, as the listeners. An initial approach we must make concerns Powell’s discussion in her article. “We expect refugee’s stories to…fulfill certain narrative expectations of othered-ness, victimization, and dependence on the state,” (Powell. 2012. p. 308) although, oftentimes these expectations are subconscious and unintentional. As I learned in one of my volunteer experiences at Safari Thrift, when I mindlessly assumed three of my fellow volunteers were refugees, however, they proved to simply be three international students from DU. Not to say that there is any shame in realizing these expectations or stereotypes exist—it is simply an opportunity to learn and to grow through them. It is imperative when listening to refugees stories to learn to have a mind that is completely open, clear of media-induced or other preconceived stereotypes, so that we are able to hear the stories for exactly what they are—no matter what that may prove to be, because ultimately they are not our stories to tell, nor are they ours to judge. We are to simply play the role of the listeners and supporters.  

A mindset we can learn to go into refugee story experiences with is one of an expectation of growth. Refugees can alter our perspectives and shape our viewpoint from our “American bubble” to a compassionate and accepting global viewpoint—the simple telling of their stories has as much to offer us as we could ever offer them through our service or listening. A refugee story is one that deserves, even demands, to be told, and we, as the listeners, play a large part of that being realized.

Refugee stories are separate from any other narratives. They are full of more suffering, hardship, and trauma than many of us will ever experience, but that does not mean they are not connected to us. Everyone has experienced struggle and pain at some point, and this is what allows us to have compassion when hearing the reality of a refugee’s life, and also what drives us to help generate change. Every single one of the 10.4 million refugees currently residing in our world deserve to have their stories told, and each victim deserves an opportunity to heal form the injustices performed against them. Justice can be furthered through the telling of these stories.  

Voices of Refugees

The Voices of Refugees event was both inspirational and informative. I appreciated being able to attend the even with our class, because it truly made the conversations we have been having and course materials come alive. I enjoyed the simplistic structure that the event took on. The refugees were able to walk up onstage and share their story; almost as if we were having a one on one conversation and not listening to them lecture us. It was refreshing. The three refugees that spoke were diverse and genuine. I loved how even if a refugee did not speak English it didn’t matter. What mattered was that they had a story and they were taking the opportunity to share it with us. Although the language barrier was slightly bothersome, each person who shared with us overcame it beautifully.

The story that impacted me most personally was the Dari family. Their daughter, who is just about to graduate from High School, stood onstage with more confidence than I’ve seen in many college students, even after admitting that “the language barrier is still challenging for my family.” She proudly shared the story of how she was born in the forest, and was technically between boundaries of countries. She shamelessly told about growing up in the “hopless and miserable” refugee camp in Nepal. She left me amazed at how wonderfully she has assimilated into our culture. This was apparent in that she was wearing American clothing while her mother and grandmother were still donning traditional Bhutanese-wear and in her flawless uses of culturally modern language. Still, she celebrated where she has come from and the opportunities that currently lie before her. At the same time, it was plain to see that she had not left the culture she grew up in behind entirely, which is something to be celebrated indeed. 

An Experience with "Refugees"

On Saturday, I had my first experience volunteering at Safari Thrift, and the experience was distinct from any previous ones. For starters, I was one of four volunteers working. The other three seemed to be around my age, and were clearly of African, Asian, and Indian ethnicity, had thick accents, and had strong relationships with the staff at Safari Thrift. Noticing this, I mindlessly assumed they were refugees who had worked with the ACC and desired to give back to them—that’s great, right? I didn’t think much of it after that, I knew that volunteering with refugees would be no different from volunteering with anyone else, and, like we have talked about so many times in class, it should have no effect on how I treat or perceive them as people. After talking to them for about an hour as we worked, I mentioned something about a restaurant that was near my school. They asked me what school I attended and I replied University of Denver. Their immediate response was, “Oh! We go to DU!” Turns out the three “refugees” are not refugees at all, but are simply international students at my school, are actually in my class, and are studying similar subjects as me. Awkward.

What surprises me most about this experience is my own subconscious prejudices and assumptions surrounding refugees. I didn’t necessarily treat them any differently after I learned they were not refugees, but it absolutely changed my opinions of them. It left me wondering if this is okay. Is it okay that these mindless presumptions exist, even in people who have learned and talked about refugees for four hours a week for over four weeks? And if this is not okay, what do we do about it? I look forward to continue working with refugees and also with people who are not refugees at all, because they all undoubtedly have something to teach or show us about our understanding (or lack thereof) of refugees. 

Powell and Refugee Stories

“It’s likely that many Americans would define refugees as people of color who are poor and need assistance.” (Powell pg 302) After looking at a variety of refugee stories over the past few weeks, I should hope that as a class we could say that this is not the definition of a refugee. In his article, “Rhetorics of Displacement,” Powell alludes to the proper definition given by UNHCR: “a person outside of his country of nationality…and have a well-founded fear of persecution.” (UNHCR pg 8) Powell compares Deng’s experience in What is the What, to the experience of people displaced by hurricane Katrina in the United States, and to people labeled as “feeble-minded” who were forced to relocate. I appreciated the way he looked at the official definition of a refugee, and challenged the media in the United States to take a look at it as well. There is often misleading information covered within the media, especially surrounding times of disaster. It is true that the people relocated following hurricane Katrina were being assisted, but the complete truth includes the fact that these people are not refugees, and should not be treated as such. I also entirely agreed with Powell when he discussed American’s preconceived ideas surrounding refugees. “We expect refugee’s stories to…fulfill certain narrative expectations of othered-ness, victimization, and dependence on the state.” (Powell. pg 308) I will admit that I am guilty of often accepting these expectations. Powell’s discussion was a great correlation to Melissa’s word of wisdom to us, “once you have met a refugee, you have done just that, you have met a refugee.” It is imperative to learn to go into working with refugees with a mind that is completely open, clear of media-induced stereotypes, so that we are able to hear the stories for exactly what they are—no matter what that may prove to be.  

What is the What Similarities and Differences

The story Eggers tells in his book What is the What presents a few stark contrasts to the stories looked at in God Grew Tired of Us and in Of Beetles and Angels, but each story told also shares some similarities. Each story had many aspects of violence and hardship before coming to America. In God Grew Tired of Us it is as the lost boys are fleeing from Sudan to refugee camps, in Of Beetles and Angels it is as Asgedom and his family flee as refugees to America, and Eggers story features much of the same situations as he flees from Sudan as a refugee. It surprised me to learn of the intense violence and persecution Eggers experiences as he is living in the United States. A striking difference is that Eggers’s hardships do not cease once he arrives in America. I am not meaning to imply that the others’ stories simply breezed by once fleeing to a new country, but Eggers explicitly states in his story that he had “never been kicked. Again, though, I have seen it happen…there is little in the way of violence that I have not seen in Sudan, in Kenya.” (Eggers. 2006. p 9) Eggers had never been physically harmed in the ways his persecutors did in America, even while living in war-torn Sudan. It seems to me that this is a regression in the wrong direction compared to his life in Sudan and Kenya, because not only has he been forced to leave his life and community behind, he has now experienced the pain of being a victim of direct violence. This presses the issue of not assuming that just because a refugee has come to our country, they are going to have a much better and easier life. In reality, at first, the lives of refugees often increase in difficulty rather than become easier. When looking at and telling refugee stories, it is important to remember that we do not know what kind of pain or suffering they have been through. All we can do is listen, support, and eventually, after gathering all the necessary information, begin to help them.