Name: Mikhaella (Ella) Joyce O. Ibe

Social Justice Group: 2023-2024, NYC Refugees/Immigrants

Date of Fieldwork: January 30, 2024

Name of Organization and person (people) with whom you met and their title(s):Ninaj Raoul: Executive Director at Haitian Women for Haitian Refugees

Type of Fieldwork: [69]

What I did and what I learned about my topic, activism, social justice work or civil and human rights work from this fieldwork?:

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.