On February 8th me and my social justice group went to the Little Shop of Kindness which is a volunteer organization that helps provide all kinds of things for refugees. While we were there we started off by organizing and sorting out different articles of clothing. After that we then washed fruit and placed them in baskets for the refugees and or migrants who came in to just take whenever. The majority of people who came in while we were there only spoke Spanish so there were translators there to help out. Ilze, the head of the Little Shop of Kindness mentioned to us how one of the customers that used to come in all the time recently got asylum after a year. That really put into perspective for us how hard it can be for people to gain asylum.

We were able to help out one person, she was a mother of 2 shopping for her children and husband. She only spoke Spanish so we occasionally had to get help from other volunteers who spoke Spanish. It felt very fulfilling to help out someone else and we all plan to go back again to help others.

Read more

On the 30th of January, me and my group went to Brooklyn with our chaperone Susannah to the Haitian Women for Haitian Refugee organization. We went to meet with Ninaj Raoul the Executive Director and her team to discuss and ask questions about what their organization provides and the stories of these refugees she works with. She was very welcoming and we learned lots about our topic. Here’s what we learned.

According to Ninaj, many refugees are being put into hotels, churches, and homeless shelters. A lot of them are forced to also stay in poor conditions, such as camps in undesignated areas. They unfortunately do not have lots of transportation as well, sometimes only one bus being the source of getting from one place to another. Asylum seekers also do not have high chances in achieving asylum, which if they are denied it might lead to deportation. Thankfully, Ninaj and her team work hard to help out refugees, asylum seekers and immigrants all alike, struggling to enter and live in the United States.

Read more

On the 24th of January 2023, me and my team members interviewed Kenna Mateos, Program Director at Welcome Home Jersey City and discussed her organization. They help out with refugees and asylum seekers all around Jersey City. We were able to get lots of information from her, like how most refugees around Jersey City do not have lots of places to stay or how they do not have lots of jobs which is very unfortunate. Thankfully though, Kenna and her team help out a lot with that, by providing classes and food drives for those who struggle with those materials.

She also taught us the difference between an asylum seeker and a refugee. A refugee is someone who is fleeing their country due to unlucky circumstances, while an asylum seeker is someone who leaves willingly for a better life. The interview lasted about 26 minutes long, and we thank Kenna for taking the time to interview us, and we thank Welcome Home for helping out refugees everywhere!

Read more

On the 12th of January, our eighth grade classes went to visit The United Nations, which is where their goal of “achieving international co-operation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian character,” is met. We learnt and saw many features of the UN, such as The General Assembly Hall where all the 193 Member States meet up to discuss and debate. We saw where everything happened. But the real thing that fascinated me was the artifacts they had.

They displayed many artifacts, like old bombs and educated us on the historical events on these bombs. They also had different types of other art that were made to represent the other countries and it was scattered everywhere. It was truly an enjoyable experience.

Read more