I Was A Stranger.

Although I have completed the course for which this blog was once required, I have decided that to continue to write. Why? Because my focused study of refugees last semester caused me to grow to deeply love them. My desire to do all I can to provide relief and to serve them has only increased.

This past weekend, Elder Kearon delivered an imperative and powerful message in General Conference on the subject of refugees, and it moved me. He connected things that changed my entire perspective on the current refugee situation completely. I found it profound how he brought up the fact that the Savior knows exactly what it feels like to be a refugee, because He once was one, both as a child and throughout the rest of His life. He also talked about our heritage as members of the church, and how we "don't have to look back far in our history to reflect on times when we were refugees, violently driven from our homes and farms over and over again." Never have I felt more of a connection to the millions of people displaced, and never have I felt more of a duty to make a change than when he spoke these words. So, so profound and inspired.

In addition, as announced in the General Women's Meeting on March 26th, the church has started a relief effort to provide us with greater ability to reach out and "love one another." On the home page, the First Presidency states:

"'I Was A Strager' gives sisters a way to serve as individuals, in families, and in organizations and to offer friendship, mentoring, and other Christlike service to the refugees in our midst..."

I am so grateful for our inspired leaders and the guidance and direction that they so willingly and lovingly give. I am also grateful for a beating heart and a willing and able body that I can use to help my brothers and sisters who desperately need it.

Listen to Elder Kearon's talk here.

Visit the "I Was A Stranger" homepage for more information here.

Not To Know a Happy Moment.

“I wish I could have done more for her. Her life has been nothing but struggle. She hasn’t known many happy moments. She never had a chance to taste childhood. When we were getting on the plastic boat, I heard her say something that broke my heart. She saw her mother being crushed by the crowd, and she screamed: ‘Please don’t kill my mother! Kill me instead!’“ (Lesvos, Greece) 

This photo was taken by photographer Brandon Stanton, creator of the widely known and popular blog Humans of New York. Its purpose is to illustrate the diversity and uniqueness of every human by posting pictures of random people off of the streets of New York, captioned with a short story or quote from the photographed. Although he and the project started small, he now has over 8 million followers on various social media sites, and has had several successful projects, such as a published book that was #1 on the New York Time Bestsellers List.

Recently, there has been a common theme in many news reports and blogs: the fast-paced ever-growing refugee crises in the world today. There are more refugees now all over the world than there ever has been before, and it is instilling a sort of panic in resources such as the UNHCR and other establishments that have provided assistance to refugees in the past. This past September and October, Stanton posted photographs along with stories of refugees, a remarkable and profound way to create awareness about the magnitude of the problem, and providing the opportunity for us to learn more about their situations directly from them.

Easily the location of the current largest issue is Syria. Thousands and thousands of people are unjustly displaced and forced to make their way across Europe. 2,000 of them are settling in Greece each day, particularly the island of Lesvos. It is not a big island, so it is getting difficult for them to foster this many people coming in such large groups. One of the most popular ways of these people to get to the island is on plastic boats, not very big or very sturdy, but very crowded. Many people do not make it across the treacherous ocean on these trips, but those that do are considered lucky. The little girl in this picture along with the man were some who travelled on these boats. Because of the violence in her home before and the dangerous journey on which she was forced to embark, the man says that she "never had a chance to taste childhood." Then, when they finally arrived in Greece, she watched her mother be trampled by the crowd.

And then, she says something that takes courage, maturity, and completely selfless love.

"Please don't kill my mother! Kill me instead!"

The Syrian Conflict has turned free people into refugees, tourists into humanitarian workers, and popular vacation spots into crowded refugee camps, and caused a small child who should not have a care in the world to experience this horror, and say these words.

What can we do?

References Cited:

Stanton, Brandon. Humans of New York. 28 September 2015. Web. 5 November 2015. http://www.humansofnewyork.com/post/130088067056/i-wish-i-could-have-done-more-for-her-her-life

"Refugee Crisis in Greece." International Rescue Committee. 2 November 2015. Web. 5 November 2015. http://www.rescue.org/where/greece

Niarchos, Nicolas "An Island of Refugees." The New Yorker. 16 September 2015. Web. 5 November 2015.  http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/an-island-of-refugees

Porter, Lizzie. "Refugee Crisis in Greece: What Can Tourists Do to Help?" Travel. 25 September 2015. Web. 5 November 2015. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/11889298/refugee-crisis-greece-what-can-tourists-do-to-help.html

Human Trafficking and Refugee Smuggling - It Needs to Stop

"I don't want anything else. My entire family passed away." 

Those are the words of Abdullah Kurdi, a Syrian refugee who fled the terrible conflict with his family, only to be disappointed by smugglers and forced to travel unsafely, resulting in the death of his two young sons and his wife. The body of his three-year-old son ended up washed up on the beach, a devastating manifestation of the reality of his passing, and now a wake up call to the world on just how dire the current refugee situations are in this world today.

 In researching this topic, I have learned much about the refugee human trafficking smugglers that let down this poor family in a time of great need. The immigration situation is poor in several countries, and the EU (European Union - which would be one of the main sources of help for these people), the United Nations and the United States are having difficult times trying  to handle the overwhelming surge of current refugees. Therefore, in order to escape, many of them are turning to smugglers to help them reach the safety and peace of body and mind that they are so desperately searching for. They have no other way out, and suffering illegally seems like the best option. (Read more about it here). Sometimes, it works. But in the case of Abdullah Kurdi, and in the recent tragic case of the 70 refugees found DEAD in the back of a van (here), it ends terribly badly. 

I think the reason that this doesn't work is the fact that many of the smugglers don't really care about the well-being of the refugees they are transporting. They are just benefitted the more people that request their help (here). This personally makes me very angry. Children of God, who are innocent civilians searching for the same happiness and joy that we all seek, because of no fault of their own are being forced out of their country into unknown places with no resources, and sometimes it gets bad enough that they look at their own lives and think that suffering under the leadership and direction of human smugglers illegally is the best option. The BEST OPTION. 

I echo the concluding words of Abdullah Kurdi, who, when adding on to what is quoted above, stated: "But I hope they can help those still in need. Enough with this war. I don't know what more to say. I am so tired." 

The more I learn about the refugee situation, which is described to be at an all time high, the more I want to speak up about it. You can too. Please don't let another child wash up on the shore, and PLEASE don't let the lives and dreams of millions of our brothers and sisters die the same way. 

Other Helpful Links: 

Image of Drowned Syrian, Aylan Kurdi, 3, Brings Migrant Crisis Into Focus

Top Mormon leaders encourage members to help refugees

"Left to Tell" Book Review

The separation of tribes in Rwanda was not just a physical one. It ran much deeper, and because of it, violence roared through once peaceful land. Immaculee, a Tutsi studying at university at the time, ended up in the middle of it. "Left to Tell" is the very deep, very personal, very true story of her experience facing the horrors and hardships of the Rwandan Holocaust, and her triumph because of her relationship with God. This is by far one of the most powerful books I have ever read. I didn't know much about the Rwandan Holocaust when I picked it up, but afterward, I felt like I had gone through it with her. Her descriptive language and heart-wrenching personal accounts pulled me in and caused me to feel deeply for her and her family. Her thoughts and description of her relationship with God inspired, and helped my own faith in God grow leaps and bounds. She is a remarkable example of faith, love, kindness, and forgiveness to us all. I highly recommend this book for everyone.

"I'm Looking For a Life."

Abdi Nor

The podcast entitled, Abdi and the Golden Ticket, Abdi Nor, a Somalian refugee seeking a Visa in order to come to America with a green card. He spoke of his childhood dream of coming over and living in this great nation. He read books and learned English because he wanted to become an English teacher. He worked hard, and applied for the lottery that would determine whether or not he was eligible. During the period he waited for approval, many violent people raged the streets, causing catastrophic events and threatened lives. He went through a lot and felt his dream was nothing, but he pushed through although disheartened. One of the most impactful things about the podcast was the fact that much of it was recorded in real time. As Abdi was going through the tough moments, it was being recorded. You could hear the trouble and then the triumph in his voice.  You could hear his hope. 

It is evident to me that I am ignorant when it comes to understanding how blessed I am to live in America. I think it's safe to say that many citizens of this country are similar. We get up every morning when we want, have food at the ready so we can eat it when we want. We have opportunities for education and employment and friendships and transportation and safety and FREEDOM. I myself rarely think about how every step and every breath I take is a gift, and the very fact that I get to wake up in the morning with a day of possibilities ahead of me means that I live in a free land, and there are hundreds and hundreds of people don't even know what that's like. We have life here, and that's what people desire more than anything else. When I listened to this podcast, my eyes were further opened on this subject. Abdi is now one my heroes. 

"Waste Land" Film Review

Waste Land, the documentary, follows highly praised and well-known artist Vik Muniz during his project involving the "pickers" within the world's largest landfill, Jardim Gramacho in Brazil. These pickers were hired to live on-site and trudge through the garbage all day, every day, gathering from the mess all the recyclable items carelessly thrown away by the citizens. The pay was less than deserved, and the job was dirty. Muniz was fascinated and touched by their story, and decided to dedicate one of his projects in their honor, and give back the earnings to them. Shown in the film are about five main pickers, who tell their deeply upsetting, but true-to-life stories. Muniz took photographs of these five, and then with their help, redesigned the photos using recyclable items from the landfill itself, which he then turned into photographs.

If I could describe the film in one word, I would choose "humbling." It was marvelous to witness someone as affluent and successful as Vik Muniz give of his time and efforts to people less fortunate. That aspect made me want to make a difference in someone else's life, just as he. When interviewed, I could tell that the pickers were not happy about their situation, but they made the best of it all the same. Some of the most powerful lines of the film came from them, with one saying that, "It's not bad to be poor," and another stating, "I carry this with pride." It's all that they had, and for them, the fact that they had it at all was good enough. It really made me think about the fact that so much of what we complain about is so petty, because to someone else, that's it and they appreciate it. 

Watch film here. 

"Where Children Once Studied..."

In the 1990s, there were three main tribes that occupied the land of Rwanda: the Tutsis, the Hutu, and the Twa. The majority however, were the Hutu. For some reason, many of the Hutu people under their leader, Habyarimana, were convinced that the people in the Tutsi tribe were at fault for all of the country's misfortunes, and that all of them were participants in a rebel group called the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) (unitedhumanrights.org).
Because of this skewed misconception, many they made it their goal to exterminate all of the Tutsi. During these painful years, some people fled, but another "...one million people (out of a population of seven million) were killed," and "whether Hutu or Tutsi, whether refugees in camps inside or outside Twanda, survivors are haunted by feelings of fear, guilt, and insecurity" (Salgado). Innocent people were tortured, forced out of their homes, led into traps, and killed in the most unlikely of places. Immaculee Ilibagiza in her book, Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust, talks about her experience living through this nightmare, and describes in great detail how people were treated this way for no reason. She mentions the fact that they were led to churches and schools for protection, only to be slaughtered like nothing (Ilibagiza). 

I have been sitting here at my computer trying to think of a way to put my feelings about this subject and this photograph into words, but I'm having a real struggle. It's not because I don't have anything to say, and it's not because I don't want to say it. It's because no quality or quantity of words can say enough about each life lost depicted in this picture. Or about each family ripped apart because of this horrible tragedy. This picture shows an abandoned school located in a village in Nyarubuye, where in April of 1994, their lives were taken. No on bothered to bury them, because the people who survived left very quickly (Salgado). It is painful to me to look at or think about. These people thought they were safe. These people wanted refuge. These people were terrified, left with little hope for the future because they knew they probably wouldn't have one.

This is "where children once studied" (Salgado). You can still see the writing on the chalkboard from the last class held in that room.

Rwanda is still deeply scarred from this experience, and now I am too.

I can't sit around and watch things like this happen to God's children. It isn't right. It isn't fair. Every time I go to look at the Salgado book, I gain a deeper understanding and a much broader perspective about the refugee situations in the world, but this photo has made me more inspired to help than I ever have been before. Because honestly, we can't afford any more genocides. I want to be there with open, loving arms for the people who have to run to find it.

References:

Salgado, Sebastiao. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. 1994. Photograph. New York: Aperture Foundation, Inc., 2000. P. 206.

Salgado, Sebastiao. Migrations: Humanity in Transition. Pamphlet. New York: Aperture Foundation, Inc., 2000. P. 13. Print.

Ilibagiza, Immaculee. Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust. United States: Hay House, Inc., 2006. Print.

"Genocide in Rwanda." United Human Rights Council. Web. 8 October 2015. http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/genocide/genocide_in_rwanda.htm