Plight of refugees
In many of the world’s countries, the issue of immigration and refugees is not new. This has been due to several factors some of which include: war, famine and drought and geographical catastrophes. A good example from the United States is the recent displacement of people by tornadoes and hurricanes (e.g. hurricane Katrina). As a result, the areas into which the displaced people move to experience intense pressure on facilities. Some of these facilities are schools. In a bid to counter the negative effects that the local people hold on the refugees in schools, some of the necessary aspects to understand are discussed below.
The second aspect that the learners should understand is the state of the refugees. If they understand how the refugees are feeling and how they are viewing their lives, the learners will come to support the refuges and live with them in harmony. This is because most of the displaced people have sad tales to narrate and all they would need is a shoulder to cry on. Learners love one another thus making them understand the situation would greatly improve the situation.
The other factor to ensure that the learners understand is the fact that anybody can be a refugee. The learners should be taught on the different ways of becoming a refugee and the plight of refugees. Making them exposed to such knowledge would make their understanding better thus improve their ability to accommodate and help the displaced people where they can.
Turning to the initiatives of my community on how to deal with the newcomers in our area, the community has set up centers for such people. In these centers the newcomers are taught on how to live in the locality as well as how to earn a living. As an extension program to this, the centers have training units in which the newcomers are taught on how to make their own money and reduce dependency on donation.
The other service offered by the community centers for newcomers are housing. Considering that in my locality housing is a problem, a foreigner in this land would not have any access to housing facility thus their lives would be living hell. So as to counter this, the centers have built houses in which the foreigners pay a subsidized fee.
The other initiative has been employment opportunities. The centers offer employment vacancies to the refugees so that they can at least earn a living. This has made the refugees to lead much bearable lives considering that some were tycoons who were stripped off all their wealth by some catastrophe.
On education sector, the community has responded to this by setting up more schools mostly in the camp areas for the displaced. Though this has increased pressure on social amenities and subsidized the quality of education, the ‘no child left behind’ goal of America is maintained. As s result, the governments have chipped in by providing trained personnel in schools.
Turning to the environment in which such people can thrive, the main factor to consider is love and peace. The local people should first of all understand that the affected people are in most cases traumatized thus needs to be loved and provided with a peaceful environment for them to compose themselves and live on.
In conclusion, anybody can be an outcast even in your home community. For one to thrive, understanding is the main factor to consider. The locality has to understand your position as well as one has to fully understand his/her situation, accept it and find the best way to move on with life.
