I never wrote a blog about my experience working with the refugees because it was very difficult to write something that I felt would be able to capture what it was like. After months of hearing about the refugee crisis I had created all these ideas in my head of what it would be like to work with them. In the end, they are just people. People fleeing from their country due to war, political views and corruption. And yes, there are those who flee who have corrupt mindsets of their lives and others. I don’t have all the answers and I can only speak based solely on the things I have seen and the people I have talked to. People from Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Morocco, and Afghanistan. People seeking stability in a country where they don’t understand the language or how to ask for assistance. People who are hospitable even when they have nothing more than what is given to them by someone else they will never meet.
I don’t have many pictures of my time spent in the camps handing out beds to families or when we went to help put on a movie night to a camp of kids and adults. I do have a killer video that my teammate Lucie made that highlights our time spent in a park with over 30 families who had to place to go, or if they did how they would get there. We played with the kids, passed out food and collected information on where they were from, what language they spoke, how many people were in their family, etc. We had refugees who were Christians that were being taught English at the church that helped us translate. They were not too long ago in the same position as the people they were interviewing, and by Gods Grace and redemptive love, they were able to help others.
(The day after filming this video we planned to go back. That was until we had heard that the police had gone and sprayed down the families demanding that they leave the park. Most were relocated to camps, some probably smuggled, and others probably moved on to another part of the city.)
For more blogs from my squad on their experience with the refugees in words that I can’t, check them out here:
http://haleysteele.theworldrace.org/post/surviving-is-not-living
http://erikapaul.theworldrace.org/post/here-are-photos-the-words-will-come
http://jessicadoffing.theworldrace.org/post/inside-the-softex-camp
or https://myrefugeestory.wordpress.com for inside interviews with refugees written by our contacts daughter!
