Refugees were a people group I really had not given much thought in the past. I did not really know much about the process of being a refugee or even any of the stats on how many the United States allowed in each year. This all changed when I walked into a refugee school in Cisarua, Indonesia.
This refugee school is tucked back off a small dirt road in the small town of Cisarua. This school ranges from age 5 – high school level. It is a small little building jam packed with refugee kids from mostly Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the Iran area. This school was started by the refugees in the area. They saw the need of educating their children while awaiting placement. As a refugee Indonesia does not allow them to work, vote, or have any access to education for their children. Indonesia has been gracious in allowing refugees a place to come to be safe which is so awesome. But Indonesia can not afford to allow them to have access to jobs or schooling, which would be taking those resources away from their own people that need it. I get the dilemma that Indonesia faces, but in the mean time these people have nothing. They have to rely on their family members that are still back in their home countries potentially in danger to send them money to live on. All while their children are missing out on years of schooling. So these families live in a limbo of not being able to settle and make a life for themselves for years while they await placement.
So instead of allowing their children to get behind in their education and life they took things into their own hands and got funding to start their own school. The adults and older teens are the teachers and any refugee family that moves into the area is allowed access to the school. The children are taught during the day and at night they have english classes for the adults. They recently started a new education program they found online that is preparing their children even more for reintegration into schools. This school is taught all in english. Being that Australia, Canada, and the United States are the primary countries placing refugees they saw the need of their children being fluent in english and took it upon themselves to make it happen.
Spending time with these families I quickly had a new found respect for refugees. They are some of the strongest people I have ever met. To uproot everything you have ever known to protect your family and then to sit in a foreign place with no rights and still be so joyful and hopeful is something I admired so much about all of the people I met here.
I look forward to staying contact with these people and hopefully soon being able to reunite with them in the great USofA!!! 🙂
Also here is a link to their schooling organization if you would like to help these families out. www.refugeelearningcenter.com/
Our Teaam with the teachers of the School
