Name: Armant L’Heureux
Social Justice Group: Refugees
Date of Fieldwork: January 22, 2018
Name of Organization: N/A
Name of Organization/Person/People with Whom We Met: Bill Bailey, Abdula and Mahmoud.
Type of Fieldwork: Interview
What we did:
We interviewed two refugees from Syria with the help of a former LREI High School teacher, Bill Bailey, who now helps refugees get settled in America.
What did I learn about :
I learned about the experience that a family of two had to undergo to escape their country and create a new beginning in America. Abdula and Mahmoud were forced to leave Syria due to the civil war currently going on between Bashar Al-Assad and the Free Syrian Army. Another problem in their path was ISIS, and how they wanted nothing to do with them and it was getting harder and harder to avoid contact with them. They spoke about how they lived just outside Aleppo and how it wasn’t safe to go into the city anymore, and every time they went outside they would be robbed. Once they were so cut off that they weren’t able to get food, they realized it was time to leave. They drove to Turkey and attempted to take a flight to the United States but were denied access because of Trump’s travel ban. They were forced to stay in Turkey before eventually they were let on a flight to America. This interview taught me about the personal experiences that a refugee has to go through and it not just being a statistic.
What did I learn about social justice/civil rights work from this fieldwork:
Something that I learned was that perseverance is very important. Even though they had to flee their home to somewhere that they may have never been before, they kept going and never looked back; they always had hope. Even when they were denied access, they didn’t turn back around to Syria, they stayed in Turkey and waited for an opportunity to show itself. They had no food and no house, and they persevered through their hardships. Perseverance isn’t just important in situations like this, but in almost anything. Sticking to something instead of giving up may be the best thing to do, even if it’s the hardest as well.
