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.
The Dari family also impacted me the most. It's so interesting to see how family values translate over to every culture. I felt like I could connect most to that presentation because I too grew up with grandparents as well as my parents in a 3 generation family.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed the Dari family's stories as well. Especially since they all had different perspectives on the same basic story. I thought the high school girl was really fun as well. She did a good job of being fun with the audience, but also telling a serious and important story.
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